


Little Eyes

by DragonLover19



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Accidental Impregnation, Alomst Kinda Rape, Alternate Universe - Monster Falls, Gargoyle Grunkle Stan, M/M, Mpreg, Sphinx Grunkle Ford, hybrid species
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-20
Updated: 2018-04-25
Packaged: 2019-01-20 03:36:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 29
Words: 47,031
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12424239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DragonLover19/pseuds/DragonLover19
Summary: He knew what he done was wrong. However, he didn't think it would come back to haunt him ten years later.





	1. 10 years later...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Sex/Rape at beginning

Ford didn’t know why he found this of all things amusing, but he did. He loved when he teased his brother like this. Powerless, helpless, in his total control. If sphinxes could blush, than Ford’s face would be red right now.

Below him, Stan moaned quietly as Ford stroked his membrane. Ford was silently glad that Stan slept like a rock, otherwise this would be extremely awkward to explain.

In retrospect, it was Stan’s fault for not wearing any pants when he stepped into their shared room. The sight of his twin’s thick cock was a sight to behold once he spotted it. Though he never imagined it to be so… alluring.

Thank goodness their parents were out shopping, giving Ford some privacy as he slowly pumped his twin’s cock. He knows that he shouldn’t be doing this. It was like some sort of rape for goodness sake! But the soft small smile on Stan’s face kept him going, rubbing his large six fingered paw up and down the shaft as Stanley continued to sleep without any idea what Ford was doing to him.

Saliva went do his throat as Ford swallowed.

Stan was just so peaceful, it was hard to imagine that he could sleep through this while Ford was basically giving him a blow job! So calm, so happy.

Ford was sure his own cock was taking pleasure in this. It pulsed with egger as Stan moaned quietly from the touches.

Percome trickled out in small pearls at the slit, riding down Stan’s cock and slickening Ford’s paw as he pumped. His mouth was getting wet as more percome trailed down Stanley’s cock. Ford watched as it slowly trailed down to the base, curving over his twin’s sack and down over the hole in Stan’s perineum.

Right. He almost forgotten. Gargoyles males had these so called false wombs.

He never got a close look at it before since Stan was always self-conscious about it. Looking at it closely, a tight feeling in Ford’s gut formed the longer he stared at it. And the longer he stared at it, the more he wanted nothing to do than—

NO! Bad Ford! It was already bad enough touching his twin while he slept, but doing THAT was in fact considered rape!

But it was… so tempting.

But it would be rape!

It looked so soft, and squishy.

He would be vandalizing his own brother!

Records did say that a gargoyles false womb was the most softest, warmest, caressing experience of all time.

…

Ford bit his lip as he undid the front of his pants, pulling down his garments till his cock sprang free, red and leaking. Ford carefully aligned himself with Stan’s false entrance, taking a deep breath before slowly pushing the tip in.

The warmth was incredible! And he only a tip way in!

Stan shifted in his sleep, face scrunching as a foreign feeling poked inside him. Ford stilled himself, watching in case Stan woke up. He sighed in relief as Stan relaxed, snoring away without any knowledge that his brother’s cock was in him. He waited a moment, letting Stan get used to his cock inside him before sliding it in more.

It was an agonizingly slow process, having to stop and wait for Stan to adjust having Ford inside him before he could move in more. Lucky that Stan was still sleeping through all of this.

And, so, _warm._

Ford ravished in the feeling of his cock surrounded by Stan’s thick soft walls, caressing his membrane like nothing he ever felt before. The room suddenly felt a hot for some reason, but Ford didn’t care.

He was inside his brother.

He had his cock inside his brother.

And it.

Felt.

AMASSING!

He was in so deep, so warm. Ford had no idea that anyone could feel like this and, and…

Licking his lips, Ford slowly pulled out half way and pushed back in. Stan’s moans sounded like an angel’s sigh. Biting his lip, Ford continued to pull out and push in, keeping a slow thrusting movement.

There was drool coming out a Stan’s mouth, wetting the sheets as he panted softly, moaning quietly as Ford thrusted slowly in him. His cock was stone hard in Ford’s grip, leaking percome like a champ.

Ford almost wanted to take the whole thing in his mouth, but with the fear of Stan possibly waking up with his cock in Ford’s mouth, he kept to pumping it while he thrusted.

So slow.

So warm.

So soft.

So…

So…

So…

Ford grunted as he came balls deep in his brother. Stanley’s body shivered, his breath hitching as hot liquid seed shot into him, filling his false womb with Ford’s come.

All while sleeping through the whole thing.

Ford slumped, panting heavily as he kept coming inside his brother. Okay, NOW he considered this as a rape. But it was too late to do anything to stop it. And it was too late to say that he didn’t do anything that could tarnish his twin’s trust or love.

_But then again. There’s nothing to say that you **have** to say anything._

A frown came on his lips, looking down at his still coming cock inside his twin. Stan’s snores vibrated in the room, unaware to what his twin had done to him.

An hour passed before Ford could safely pull out, oddly feeling satisfied as the sight of his come dripping out the false wombs hole, and quickly cleaned himself up. Stan was easier to clean as he _still_ slept through the whole thing without any disturbance. With a few sprays of air freshener, Ford had gotten rid of any evidence of what had happened that day. Stan was none the wiser when he woke up to his twin working on his special machine for the schools science fair.

Though, he didn’t remember if he had boxers on or not when he was sleeping.

)*(

The shack was quiet.

Too quiet.

Too normal with shadows around for eyes, **_eyes, eyes, everywhere, eyes,_** to hide in as they mocked him.

Where was Stanley?!

He was supposed to come!

Maybe he didn’t.

Maybe his postcard got lost and didn’t reach him.

Maybe he wasn’t coming at all—

Knocks.

Someone was knocking on his door.

He picked up his crossbow, flinging the door open and aimed it. “Who’s There?! Have You Come To Steal My Eyes?!”

Stanley, _Oh Goddess It’s Stanley!_ , blinked at him, taken back by the arrow pointed at him. “… I can always count on you fer a warm welcome.”

“Stanley! You came!” He came. He came. He actually _came_. “Are you alone?”

“Course I did. Ya told me ta-Hey!” Ford pulled him in, slamming the door behind him and flash a light in his eyes. “Hey! What are ya doin’?!”

“Checking to see if… never mind!” Ford shook his head, stepping away from his brother. “Stanley, I need your help. I’ve—”

Another knock.

Smaller, softer.

Ford tensed, gripping the crossbow tightly. Was it Bill?

“Oh, right.” Ford looked at his brother. “I almost forgot.” He reached for the door.

“Stanley!” He grabbed Stan’s arm, moving it away from the door. “What are you doing?!”

“Uh, lettin’ my kid in. It’s cold out there.”  

Ford froze. “… k… kid?”

Stan pulled his arm away, pulling the door open wide enough for a small _something_ to dart in and hide behind Stanley’s large legs.

Brown eyes peeked behind Stan, looking up at Ford curiously while clinging to his pants.

“Er, Stanford.” Ford looked away from this newcomer, meeting his brother’s sheepish eyes. “Meet Nasha. Nasha, meet your uncle Stanford.”


	2. The girl and the portal

Silence.

The whole shack was silent.

Ford’s eyes were glued to the small being who stared right back at him from behind his brother.

He was certain that his jaw hit the floor, metaphorically speaking to say. “… You.” He swallowed, his throat suddenly felt dry for some reason. “… You have… an offspring?”

“Uh, yeah?” Stan shrugged, acting like this wasn’t such big news to hear.

“Yours?”

“Of course.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“Related by blo—”

“Goddess Sake Ford! _Yes_ she’s _my_ own kid by flesh an’ blood! I was there when she was _born_!” Stan sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Honestly, fer such a smart guy, you can be thick headed at times.”

Ford bit his lip. “Sorry it’s just… w-why did you bring your child with you exactly?”

Stan shrugged, looking down at his daughter. “Cause.”

Ford frowned, waiting for Stan to continue. “Because… why?”

“Jus’ cause.”

“No! I mean, _why_? Why bring your child all the way out here when I told you to come alone?!”

“Okay first off, ya never mentioned anythin’ ‘bout comin’ here on my own on the card ya sent. Second, it’s too cold out to leave her in the car. An’ third, her name is Nasha.” Stan stepped to the side, exposing his daughter to the full view of her uncle, which she quickly darted behind him again. “Come on Nasha. Say hi to yer uncle.”

Nasha shook her head.

“Come on sweetie. Ford’s not goin’ ta bite ya. He’s family.”

There was a moment of pause before Nasha peeked out from behind her father, stepping out slowly with her grip still clinging to him. Now Ford could actually see her, it struck him dumb to see her have a small lions muzzle with slivery shine in her visible fur. The rest of her body was covered in snow wear, pink with little flowers all over, and only as big to Stan’s upper legs.

“… hello.” Her voice was small and timed, darting behind Stan again after she had spoken the greeting.

 Stan rolled his eyes, but smiled none the less. “She’s a bit shy around new people.”

“…” Ford didn’t know what to think. He had some speculation that Stan would have a family on his own over the last years, but he didn’t think he would _bring_ them when Ford had requested his assistance. Especially on such important matters on that! Typical. Stanley had once again possibly ruined yet another major importance. “Then why not leave her with her mother? Surely she would have taken care of her while you came here.”

He didn’t miss the way Stan’s body tensed at the mere mention of the girl’s mother, shifting his eyes away from Ford. “… she… she doesn’t have one.”

“… oh.” That… that did make more sense. But that only brought up more questions to who or what happened to the girl’s mother. Some of which didn’t make Ford comfortable to think about.

“Anyway, there uh, was somethin’ ya needed me fer?” Stan broke the silence, cutting Ford’s thoughts to a stop.

“Y-yes. Of course.” Ford turned away, walking around as he gathered notes of his years of studies of Gravity Falls. “I need your help on important matter. One that could decided the very fate of the world.” He flinched at the sight of his old fake skeleton of manticore, turning its head away from looking at him.

“Yer… not makin’ much sense Ford.” Stan sounded unconvinced, and of course he would. He didn’t understand the importance he was going through or the danger that followed him.

“It doesn’t need to make much sense other than the grave danger we are all under right now.” Where had he-AH! There it was. “But I can still, there’s still time to delay it. Maybe stop it for good.”

“Whoa whoa whoa. Slow down Ford.” Ford walked past him, stopping when he felt a hand on his back. Strong, reassuring.

Supportive.

“Look, whatever it is, I’m sure we can work it out. I’m here now. Ya don’t have to do this on yer own.”

“… I’m not sure if you can help much with what trouble I’ve caused.” He stepped away from the touch, turning to face his twin, with a small view of his daughter peeking out at him. “Just a fair warning though, what you’re about to see is nothing you could ever imagine.”

“Hey, from what I’ve seen in ten years, nothin’s gonna surprise this gargoyle.”

)*(

“… I have _no_ idea what ta think ‘bout this.”

“This.” Ford stepped towards his _creation, masterpiece, fraud, doomsday device, failure, worst mistake ever, betrayal,_ machine. “Is a portal that leads to different dimensions. It was supposed to be the greatest invention to all kind but it’s too unstable for anyone’s good.”

“Why build it?” The small voice snapped his attention away from the _cruelty, monster device, nightmare, horror dream, failure,_ cold dead portal to the small child hiding behind his brother. Her eyes were locked on to him, silent and watching.

“Don’t be rude Nasha. I’m sure Ford had his reasons.” Stan looked at him, trying to find any reason to this madness Ford had created. “So, what do you want me ta do?”

Ford straightened himself, glad to see Stan taking _something_ serious for once. He reached into his coat, pulling out his first of three of his life studies and held it out to his brother. “This machine can’t function without the blueprints. This is only one of the journals that contains those prints.” He handed it to his brother. “I’ve already hidden the other two, and only this one remains to be hidden.”

Stan looked at the cover, staring at it with mixed feelings. “Sssso, what exactly do ya want me ta do with it?”

Ford sighed. Typical. Stanley didn’t get the importance of this matter. Like always. “Look, do remember when we were kids and dreamed to sail around the world?”

The hopeful smile on his brother’s face sent an aching pain to his heart for some reason, but he squashed it down.

“GET ON A BOAT AND SAIL AS FAR AWAY AS YOU CAN FROM THIS PLACE!”

A gut sickening feeling boiled in his stomach as his twin’s face fell in grief and the girl’s eyes glared, _glared?! What type of kid glares at her age?!_ , at him.

“So that’s it?! You call me all the way here jus’ so you can shove a book in my face an’ tell me ta get lost?!”

“Stanley this is important!” Ford growled as, of course this would happen, Stan didn’t understand the importance of the matter. “The fate of the world depends on this!”

“The fate of the world my tail! Do you have any idea what we’ve been through these ten years?!” Ford blinked. We? “Do you think it was all fun an’ games?! No! We were homeless! I had ta chew threw a trunk of a car _an’_ grew a mullet!”

“This is more important than you can ever realize and you’re complaining about hair?!” Ford growled deeply. “That’s all you ever think about Stanley! It’s all about your own selfish needs!”

Stan’s face went blank. And for a small moment Ford thought the room went cold for a second before his twin’s face morphed into the most raged filled face he had ever seen on him. Fangs drawn, eyes glowing red, and the deepest, angriest rumble of a growl.

And then he lunged at Ford.

He had forgotten how heavy his twin was as he was tackled to the floor, looking up at the red eyes that stared down at him with deep angry rage. “I’M SELFISH? I’M THE SELFISH ONE? YOU HAVE ** _NO IDEA_** WHAT **I’VE** BEEN THROUGH! WHAT **_WE’VE_** BEEN THROUGH!”

Ford was in shock. Never had he seen Stanley so angry. Or have such anger thrown at him. For a brief moment, he thought that he was going to die right there right then.

Only to be saved by sounds of choughs.

Stan looked away, eyes going back to their normal look to concern. “Nasha?” He moved off of Ford, giving him the chance to roll over to his feet and cast a glare over his shoulder. His glare vanished however, being replaced by concern as Stan’s daughter was doubled over, coughing very hard that he was sure it wasn’t normal.

“Nasha?” Stan was by her side instantly, kneeling next to her. “Sweetie what’s wrong?”

Worry dripped into Ford as the girl continued to cough, sounding worse by the second. “Let me—”

“YOU STAY OUT OF THIS!”

Ford jumped back, surprised by the snapped anger thrown by his twin at him.

Then she threw up.

Both adults jumped as Nasha threw up on the floor, holding her stomach as another round hit her.

“NASHA!” Stan scooped up his child, worry and fear etched into his normal face that Ford swore wasn’t supposed to be like that. The whimper of pain coming from the small creature in his brother’s arms shot an arrow through Ford. Stan glanced around, holding his daughter close to his chest. “Where-she needs-Where’s the Goddess-?!”

Ford stepped forward, not looking the panic his brother was showing. “Stanley—” He jumped back, missing his twin’s teeth that he was sure were meant to bite him. And he said Ford didn’t bite. “Stan. She needs help.” He took a small step forward, a little disappointed when Stan stepped back, clutching his child closer to him. “I have medicine up stairs. She probably has a fever.”

Stan still backed away, eyes glued onto Ford.

“She could get worse if she doesn’t get treatment soon.”

The glare softened a bit, looking at his daughter. Small whimpers came from the equally small body clutched in his arms, curling around herself in apparent pain.

“… help.” Stan’s voice was almost too quiet to hear, but Ford could see him crumbling, breaking at a point that Ford didn’t want to see his brother in. “Jus’… help her. Please.”

)*(

Ford cursed as he searched the cabins. The bathroom was where he stored the medicine right? It had to be here somewhere! It just had to-

“Ah ha!” There it was! He grabbed the small bottle, making sure it was what he was looking for. Ford sighed, quickly heading down stairs with the small bottle in hand. Stan was still in the living room, sitting next to his daughter on the worn couch.

His daughter laid out on the furniture, head rested against her father’s leg with a small blanket covering her body. Her coat was gone, showing her short, curly brown hair and ears laid against her head. It surprised Ford how her ears were slightly pointed, almost like Stan’s own ears, except covered in sliver fur.

Stan looked up as Ford approached, eyes worried and begging for Ford to help his daughter. “Here.” Ford held the small bottle out. “This might help.”

Stan took the bottle, looking it over and reading its contents before nodding. He looked back at his daughter, shaking her slightly. “Nasha, sweetie? You need ta open yer eyes a bit.”

Nasha groaned, opening one eye up at her father.

“I need you ta take this.” He showed the bottle, putting on a small smile in hope that it would ease his child so pain. “It’ll help ya feel better, okay?”

She stared at the bottle a moment before nodding, letting Stan help her into a sitting position. Stan smiled at his daughter, leaning her against his side and looked at the bottle, mumbling under his breath for a bit before unscrewing the top and poured out the required amount.

“smells weird.” She quietly mumbled, coughing slightly.

“I know it does, but it’ll help ya get better.” Stan the cap to his daughter’s muzzle, tipping it back slowly as she drank it. Her face scrunched as the medicine went over her tongue and down her throat, sticking it out in disgust once she drank it all. “I know sweetie. I know.”

Ford stood as he watched the small display, biting his lip.

This was going to be harder than he thought.


	3. Some words shared

The room was a mess.

For the first time, maybe in a long time, Ford noticed how messy the room was.

Papers with his handwriting all over were screwed around the place, jars of samples lined every shelf, and he didn’t even want to _know_ what that was in the sink.

So over the next few hours, Ford busied himself with cleaning the area he was… somewhat sure, was the kitchen.

A few hours may have gone by, and over half of the area was starting to look like a kitchen. With some small satisfaction with his work, he went to the Bio-Study that served as a living room at the moment, poking his head in. The pair were still where he last looked. Stan was sitting on the couch with his daughter’s head laid on his leg, stroking her hair as she slept. By the glare Stan gave Ford when he looked at him, it was obvious he was still in no mood to talk.

Instead, Stan gave him the cold shoulder, tending more to his daughter than giving Ford any sign of acknowledgement towards him.

It was… understandably so. Thinking back to it, Ford could see that his… choice of words were possibly not the best in the current situation. Added with his twin’s reaction, it was safe to say that Ford didn’t really know what Stanley had been through the last decade. And with a small child.

Ford sighed, leaving the room and straight back to the kitchen. A pile of dishes next to the sink needed to be cleaned anyway.

Stan still needed space from him. For how long though? Bill was sure to strike again soon now that his twin and his child were here, one being sick and the other caring for them. He was sure to do something that could possibly endanger them in some to force Ford to reactivate the _doomsday device, nightmare bomb, end of the world machine, betrayal, horror realm,_ portal in the basement.

Or worse.

Make a deal with them.

Ford shivered, gripping the plate tightly in his paws. Stan had no idea about Bill. He could possibly be persuaded to make a deal with the demon. Possibly any involvement with his daughter.

And the child.

Good Goddess the child.

Children were so curious to their environment, she could be tricked by Bill easily. He could easily hold out his hand and she would take it without hesitation!

No, it was best that they leave as soon as possible. Maybe he could try to convince Stanley take the journal with him. Where he didn’t know, nor care as long as it was far away from Gravity Falls. Safe from anyone’s clutches so that the _darkness, nightmare, realm of no laws, demon device,_ portal stayed cold and dead.

“Is this clean?” Ford jumped, holding the plate he had been washing to his chest as an arm reached across him, plucking a small cup off the drying rack. Stan looked at him unamused, the low glow of his eyes illuminated in the dark. “Is it clean or not?”

Ford blinked a moment, looking at his brother as his heart rate calmed down. “… y-yes. I just had it clean.”

“Good enough.” Stan flipped the faucet on, filling the cup halfway before shutting it off and leaving the room. Ford stayed still for a moment before placing the plate down and followed after Stan. He peeked into the room, watching Stan kneel by the couch, offering the cup to his daughter.

His daughter that he had to take care of.

A daughter with no mother.

Ford looked away, sighing deeply as he leaned against the wall. He needed them to leave as soon as possible, to keep them safe from the dangers surrounding Gravity Falls, but he was growing increasingly curious about Stan’s situation. And with the child’s current health state, it wasn’t safe to move her around so much.

Getting off the wall, he went back to the kitchen. He would try to have a talk with Stan later.

)*(

The world had fallen dark outside the window when Stan came in again.

Ford was seated at the now free of notes table, contemplating on what to do with all studies he gathered into one corner of the room. He sat straight once he caught sight of his twin, offering a smile at him.

Stan didn’t return the gesture. Instead he went to the cupboards, opening one up and looking inside before closing it and opening another.

“What are you doing?” Ford stood slightly, frowning at his brother’s actions.

“Looking for bread.” Stan muttered, increasingly getting frustrated at the lack of food in any of the cupboards. “Toast 's supposed ta be easy on the stomach fer sick kids.”

“Oh.” Ford nodded. He flinched by the growl Stan emanated.

“Dame Ford. I’ve seen worse places havin’ more food than this.” Stan opened another cupboard, reaching inside and pulling out a bag. Both twin’s reeled back in disgust as a putrid smell hit their noses. “Found the bread.” Stan sighed, dumping the bag in the small bin next to the counter and shutting the lid. “Honestly Stanford, how do ya even live in this condition?”

Ford sighed, shaking his head as he ran a paw through his hair. “I don’t even know how I made it this far. I guess I was more worried to stay awake than caring for my own needs.” He glanced up as Stan took a seat across from him, leaning against the table heavily with his eyes downcast. “… How is she doing?”

Stan shrugged. “Better. She’s not as warm as ‘fore. An’ she’s getting’ hungry. I think those are good signs.”

Ford nodded, looking at the table. Well at least there was some good news to this whole thing. Even if it was small.

They stayed sitting at that small table, quiet with no way to break the awkwardness around them. No eye contact that would surly break one of them if they stared at the other for too long. Curious to know what each twin had done over the years they had been apart.

Finally, Ford lifted his head, looking towards the doorway. “Do you think ma would like her?”

Stan looked up, surprised out of his thoughts. “Hm?”

“Ma.” Ford bit his lip, rubbing a paw over his arm. “Do you think she would like Nasha?”

Stan snorted, sitting up straight. “Course she would like her! Ma always said she wanted a girl in the family an’ Nasha’s as cute as a button. She would gomp her with love!” His smile slowly fell away. “Though, I don’t think it’s too good of an idea ta let her know ‘bout Nasha.”

“Why not? You just said she would love her.”

“Yeah, but what ‘bout dad?”

Ford flinched. “… What about him?”

“If I tried ta tell ma ‘bout Nasha, she would probably want ta meet her right?” Ford nodded. “An’ well, she’d probably drag Filbrick along ta see her.”

Ford stiffened. The memory of Filbrick’s stone unimpressed face flashed in his mind. The last time Stan had seen him, he had punch Stan right in the face and—

“You don’t know that. She could come on her own. She always did concern over you more than he ever did.”

Stan shook his head. “Didn’t want ta risk it. My life’s bad as it is right now, I don’t need **his** option on it.”

“… I see.” Ford looked away. There was no doubt that Stan and their father would not be on good terms if they saw each other again. And with Stan’s daughter… good Goddess he didn’t want to think about it.

“So.” He looked back at his twin. “Since we’re already takin’, how ‘bout we talk ‘bout this fate of the world thin’.”

“… it’s… complicated Stanley.”

“Then jus’ start from the beginnin’. I’ve got nothin’ but time.”

Ford fidgeted in his seat, looking away. “No, I mean you wouldn’t understand. This whole thing is…” He moved his arms, putting them in front and waving them like a robot. “A jumbled mess. I don’t know where to start properly.”

Stan hummed, starching his chin a bit. “How ‘bout ya start with that thin’ down there?”

Ford swallowed, not liking to think about that down in the basement. But he had to start somewhere at least and Stan was trying to understand what was going on. “… a few years back, I ran into a snag in my studies of this small town. I met… someone, who gave me blueprints on the portal you saw earlier. It was supposed to be a gateway to bright future for all monster kind, only to find out it was a gateway to a realm of unspeakable nightmares.”

He licked his lips. “I… I had a partner working with me on the project, helping me build it up to its completion. When it was done we had a test run and…” He shut his eyes, shivering at the mere thought of almost losing Fiddleford in the _nightmare gateway_ portal. “And… there was this ‘accident’. I was able to save him, but what he saw on the other side possibly scared him for life. He left, telling me to do the same… I haven’t seen him since.”

He opened his eyes, looking at Stanley. He stared at Ford, eyes narrowed in thought. “… An’ what this guy you mentioned? The one who gave ya the blueprints?”

“I confronted him after the incident, and he confessed that it was all his plan to release a world of nightmares on the world. He used me to help his own plans, and I foolishly helped him do it. That’s why you need to take the journal away from this place. Far far away. Farther than anyone would dare look for it and—”

“Whoa whoa whoa!” Stan held his hands up, stopping Ford in his sentence. “Now hold on their bro. Wouldn’t it jus’ be easier ta take that portal thingy apart? I mean, ya already hid the other journals an’ if it’s a gateway ta this nightmare dimension thin’, can’t you jus’ take it apart?”

The room froze for a moment.

“… no.”

“What?”

“No. I… I can’t.” Ford shrunk into his seat, grabbing his head. “I _can’t_ do that Stanley! It’s my life’s work! All the time I’ve spent into it, all the resources and process to build it! I can’t just take it apart!” He squeezed his eyes shut. “But I can’t let anyone turn it on. I can’t let him win! You have to take the journal! It’s the only way! My life of study in that one book in a part of a master evil scheme should never fall into the wrong hands! Not when it holds part of the blueprints!”

“Then why not just tear that part out an’ keep the book?”

Ford’s eyes snapped open, looking at his brother in stun silence.

“If it’s that bad, then why not jus’ get rid of those plans? You know, tear it out of the book or write over it or somethin’ so no one would be able ta use it.”

“Because!” Ford shot up, slamming his paws on the table making Stan flinch as he prepared himself to tell Stan why those ideas were-

Absolutely right.

Ford blinked as he thought it over. Stan was right. He was absolutely right! If one part of those blueprints was ruined or gone, the portal wouldn’t work. It need _all three_ to function. And without those plans.

“Dear Goddess.” Ford sank back in the chair, rubbing his forehead. “Why didn’t I just think of that?”

“Uh, maybe ‘cause ya over think thin’s too much?”

Ford groaned as he slammed his head down.

)*(

Nasha opened one eye.

The lack of her father’s presence was uncomfortable, making the poor girl uneasy.

Slowly, she sat up, rubbing her mitten covered hands over her eyes, yawning. Where was daddy?

He wasn’t in the room she was in. And neither was Uncle Ford.

She frowned a bit. She didn’t know what to think of Uncle Ford. He looked a bit like daddy, though he didn’t seem to be safe or friendly by the way he and daddy talked.

But he was family. And daddy trusted family.

But what if he was like the ‘friends’?

She whimpered, shivering a bit.

She wanted her farther.

Sliding off the couch, Nasha took the blanket that was covering her and wrapped it around her, looking around. Her daddy couldn’t have gone far. His bag was still here.

One of her ears twitched. She looked to one of the doorways, stepping closer and. Yes, yes she heard it. It was her daddy. Laughing?

She stepped into the hallway, following the voice to a little room where she peeked inside.

She could see daddy’s back, sitting on a chair as he chuckled, Uncle Ford was seated on the other side looking very unhappy. Though, not in a way that she normally saw on people.

“Really Stanley, this can’t be all that amusing to you.”

“Heh heh heh! That! Heh heh! That is the most ridiculous thin’ I’ve ever heard! AH HA HA HA!”

“I thought it said it was a wish granting fish! Not a _kiss_ giving fish!”

Her daddy threw back his head, letting out the loudest, happiest laugh she ever heard from him.

She smiled as Uncle Ford groaned. Maybe he wasn’t so bad after all…


	4. Going out the door...

There was a deep rumble coming from inside Stan, snapped both twin’s attention.

Stan grinned sheepishly, placing a hand to his middle. “Heh, sorry. Gettin’ a bit hungry here.”

Ford rolled his eyes before he too heard the exact same noise coming from his own stomach. Good Goddess, how long has it been since he last ate something? Clearing his throat, Ford stood up, going to the cabinets. “I’m sure there’s something in here for us to eat.” The empty cupboard made him frown. “Though, I’m not sure if it’ll be anything filling.”

“As long as there’s somethin’ ta snack on, I’ll be fine with it.” Stan stood up, heading to the fridge and opened it. “… juuuus’ as long if it’s… questionably edible.” He shivered, closing the door.

Ford’s frown deepened, closing another cupboard with a heavy sigh. Everything was empty. There wasn’t anything for them to eat. “I’m afraid there’s nothing to eat.” He turned to his brother, crossing his arms with his head bowed.

Stan hummed, crossing his own arms. “Ah well. Not the first time goin’ hungry.”

Ford blinked. “… what?”

Stan turned, leaving the room without another word.

“Stanley, wait.” Ford followed after him to the Bio-Study/living room. Stan was seated next to his daughter, who was awake and had something in her hands. A notepad maybe? “What do you mean this isn’t the first time you’ve gone without food?”

“It’s jus’ as I said.” Stan shrugged, lifting his little girl and placed her on his lap. “This isn’t the first time we went without food. It’s nothin’ big. We can go without eatin’ tonight.”

His daughter looked up at Stan. “But you said we could eat tonight.”

Guilt flashed across Stan’s face, biting his lower lip and looking away. “Well, I thought we would. But not tonight, okay Nasha?”

Her ears bent down, looking at the floor while clutching the notepad in her hands. “m’kay.”

Something about this didn’t settle well inside Ford. Stan was always a big eater, always wanting more after finishing the first plate. Ma joked that he could eat the whole house if he wasn't careful. But seeing this, seeing them being so accepting to go with food. “Stanley?” Stan looked up at him.

The bags under his eyes weren’t a good sign.

The voices of their argument in the basement rang in his ears.

Ford steeled himself, looking at his twin straight in the eyes. “What happened when Filbrick kicked you out?”

)*(

Homeless.

It was something Stan had to get used to over the past ten years.

Being on the road with nothing but his car and the bag Filbrick had thrown at him.

He knew Filbrick wanted to get rid of him the moment he had the chance. The duffle bag was proof of that.

The years out there with no contact to his family and trying to earn a million dollars was taxing and hard. Even more so with a small child he had to take care of.

He didn’t know how or why, but Nasha had entered his life in his drifting years, small, helpless, and too weak to care for herself.

Sometimes people were generous to him when they saw he had a kid.

Others just mocked and hurt him for being a gargoyle. Not caring if he had a kid to care for.

It only got worse when they saw Nasha’s fur.

She had more guns pointed at her than Stan ever wanted. And that was a lot to say that some cases were harder to hide her than others.

Poachers, witches, and many others came after them once they saw her. And Stan had to fend them all off or ran away and hide till their trail went cold.

So many nights he lost track of going without food. And with what little money he got his claws on, he tried to giving his little girl the best he could give her.

When the postcard came with Ford’s hastily written handwriting, Stan thanked the Goddesses. He though he finally had a chance to give his girl the life he always wanted to give her. A place that sheltered her through storms, food to fill her stomach, and a place to finally stay in.

That’s all he wanted to give her.

A chance in life.

Stan fidgeted under Ford’s gaze, holding Nasha close to him. The cold silence lasted between them, heavy, unforgiving. He figured Ford would ask about it, if only by a small part of him thought so, but dame did him feel so uncomfortable sharing it.

Nasha sat quietly on his lap, looking between him and Ford.

She probably already knew what he was going to say. She was a smart little cookie. Almost smart as Ford. Or she could be smart if she was enrolled in a school.

A school that Stan could never pay to help his child learn as she grew.

Stan shook his head, looking away from Ford. “I… I don’t want ta talk ‘bout it.”

“Stanley.”

“No, look.” He stood up, cradling his daughter in his arms. “Thanks for lettin’ us stay this long an’ fer the medicine, but yer portal plan thin’ is… somewhat fixed.” He shrugged. Really, it was just that simple of a task. Ford just needed someone to point it out to him. “But we can’t stay.” He grabbed Nasha’s coat that laid out on the duffle bag, the same one Filbrick threw at him, and helped her put it on.

“You’re leaving?”

“We only came ‘cause ya needed help. Now that ya don’t need it, we’ve over stayed our welcome.” It was the only sensible thing to do now. Staying any longer and he was sure he be riding of Ford’s cocktails again. And he couldn’t ask Ford to care for Nasha either. That be dumping a whole new problem onto Ford all over again.

Grabbing the duffle bag and slinging it over his shoulder, Stan headed out the room, trying very hard not to break as Ford’s breathing got heavy. He had done what he had been summoned for. Now Ford could be at ease again and Stan wouldn’t hold him down. He didn’t know what to do next, but if anything, it wasn’t going to get his brother involved.

Nasha made a small whimper, shrinking in his hold as they get closer to the door.

Stan didn’t want to this, he really didn’t, but it had to be done. He couldn’t mess up Ford’s life again. He would think of something to give Nasha a life. It just wasn’t going to be here.

Grabbing the door handle, Stan steeled himself, ready to stop riding on Ford’s help and back to the life of a drifter.

He didn’t hear padded feet rushing towards them as he opened the door.

He didn’t notice an outstretched arm till it slammed the door shut.

He didn’t know what to think as he instinctively pulled his kid closer to him, looking back at Ford.

Ford’s face had that look he had long since forgotten. Face scrunch, eyes narrowed, and jaw set. His eyes were filled with a fiery determination, something that he only had when he was deep in his work or cracking one of the riddles in a book Stan had once gotten for him on their birthday.

“Don’t go. I… need your help.”


	5. Or not

His brother was leaving.

That was all his mind could register as Stan picked up his child and the duffle bag, a very familiar looking one, and headed out.

A deep gut wrenching feeling boiled inside him. He wanted them gone, sure, but only to protect them from Bill. To stay safe far away from his clutches.

But after Stan’s hesitance to answer his question, he knew there was something wrong.

Before he knew it, he was holding the door close, looking at Stanley as he held his child close to him. “Don’t go. I… need your help.”

Stan blinked at him, looking at him like he grew a second head or some other anomaly. “What?”

“I need your help.” Ford repeated, voice firm and strong.

“With what? Ya already got everythin’ under control now. You don’t need my help with anythin’.”

“Yes I do.”

Stan huffed, grabbing Ford’s arm and tried to push it away gently. “Look, we’re not here fer charity. I came, helped you, an’ you helped us, so we’re even.”

“You didn’t help me.”

Stan paused, looking at him. “Huh?”

“You didn’t help me.” Ford repeated. “You only pointed out a flaw in my plans to stop this nightmare. I still need your help.”

A moment passed before Stan sighed, turning to his brother with a hard look. “Ford, I’m not stayin’ ‘cause you feel guilty ‘bout us. I did what ya asked an’ what’s done ‘s _done_. So would ya kindly jus’—”

“No.” Ford moved in front of the door. “What I asked of you was to take the book. Not to point out the simpler solution. Even with part of the plans gone, there’s still so much that needs to be done.”

“Like what?”

Ford blinked. What could Stanley do? “Well… uh.” Ford bit his lip, starting to feel the pressure of his twin’s glare as he waited for him to answer. He had to think of something that didn’t seem like a charity case. His eyes landed on the small child in the gargoyle’s arms. Her eyes were fixed on him, big and filled with a small light of hope… was her muzzle moving?

Ford blinked, watching her mouth move in a slow flexes, showing her teeth, her tongue, moving her lips—

His eyes widened.

She was repeatedly mouthing the word ‘portal’.

But why? Why would she be silently forming that word over and over again? What possible strategy would a child like her do repeating portal in his sight when he was trying to—

Oh.

_Ooooh._

“The portal.” Ford trained his eyes back on Stan. “I need your help with it.”

Confusion crossed Stan’s face and that was alright. It gave Ford the confidence to keep going. “While it need the blueprints to work properly, it doesn’t mean it’s not fully functional. Any flip of a switch or press of a button could cause the machine to activate. Who knows what could happen if someone were to get sucked in there?”

“Only if someone finds it first.” Stan pointed out. “Yer place isn’t really in city central. Nobody dumb enough would come out here an’ stumble across yer machine by accident.”

Good point.

Ford’s home _was_ far away from any outside contact. Any chances of someone coming here were extremely slim to none.

Ford cursed inwardly. No one would be coming out here for good reason. And he did doubt they would find the portal so easily. No one knew the way to get in except his old partner Fiddelford, himself, Stanley and—

Bill.

“What if it was on purpose?” Ford’s face hardened. “What if it was someone who knows about the portal? Someone who knows the ins and outs of its machinery. Someone.” A twisted smile, blue flames, and extended hand. Displaced trust. “With dark intentions to use that portal.”

A minute passed before something flashed in Stan’s eyes. His face dropped as he stared at Ford with wide eyes. “That guy who gave ya those blueprints?”

Ford nodded solemnly.

“You really don’t think he would come here an’ do that… would he?”

“I don’t think so.” Relief crossed Stan’s face. “I _know_ so.”

Shocked fear crossed Stanley’s face. His eyes widened to an impossible point.

“… nuts.”

)*(

“So how are we goin’ ta do this? Do we jus’ take a bat or somethin’ an’ start swingin’ or what?”

“It’s not that simple Stanley.” Ford looked up at the _sleepless nights, countless failures, back aching work, empty promise_ portal. Its large form loomed over the pair, almost as if it were mocking them silently. That’s what it felt like to Ford as he glared back at it, stance held high with his hands behind his back. “It needs to be taken part carefully. Any miscalculation in taking it apart will result in and giant catastrophic disaster.”

“Annnn’ how big would that be?”

“BIG.”

Stan frowned, but Ford could see he got the picture, looking at the portal carefully. “Okay, no mindless hittin’ on the machine. Got it.” He stretched his arms up, flexing his large wings, rolling his non-existing sleeves to his shirt which looked dirty and hadn’t seen a washer in a long time. “So, where do we start?”

With careful procedure, they got to work dismantling the portal. Ford guided Stan to where and what needed to be dealt with first, pointing out what he had to do and where to be most careful with. Within an hour, all power connected to the machine was cut off, leaving nothing more than a husk with no energy.

Now came the tricky part.

Dismantling the portal.

Taking out the power was easy. Now they had to deal with the whole machine itself. Ford speculated that they could cut their effort if they worked on it bit by bit in three equal sections. It would take time, but it would be all worth it if it meant keeping the world safe.

And keep Stan and his daughter here.

Ford glanced over his should, watching his twin work of taking apart a metal sheet with his hands. He was lucky that Stan had be born a gargoyle, inheriting their impressive strength and endurance, it made taking apart the portal much fast than he thought. Though he guessed it would have been much faster if Stan didn’t stop some times to glance back at his daughter.

She sat quietly at the door, covered by Stan’s red jacket as it was ‘ _too dang cold down here fer a sick girl like her_ ’ as he put it nicely. Though he did admit it did get a tad bit drafty in here in the cold months. She had some coughing fits here and there, but she was quiet and stayed where Stan had set her down.

Almost as if she had done it many times bef—

Ford scrunched his eyes, shaking his head. He needed to focus. Any distractions were bad enough to jeopardize their plan to stop Bill.

“Jeez Ford, how long did it take ya ta build this thin’?” Stan grunted as he pulled a large section of metal off, exposing the wiring and machinery beneath it.

His face scrunched as he thought back. “Four years. It was when I hit a snag in my studies. A end dead without any clue of all the mysteries surrounding this small town… that’s… when I met **him**.”

Stan spared him a glance, raising one eyebrow up high. “The nut job who trick ya into makin’ this?”

Ford nodded, grabbing some wires and cutting through them with pliers. “I was so desperate for answers back then, I fell for his trickery and empty compliments. If I had been more careful and seen all the signs instead of ignoring them… maybe things would have been different.”

“Yeah well, ya can’t really change the past. What happened… happened. Ya can’t change it to make it better an’ there’s nothin’ you can do ‘bout it.” Stan looked at the bundle of wires before him, giving them a small tug. “I mean, if I had the chance ta go back, I wouldn’t have ruined yer chance at yer dream school.”

Ford’s fur bristled.

Anger flashed through him as he remembered. He remembered how happy he had been to show his machine, his Perpetual Motion Machine, to the people of West Coast Tech only to find it still and not moving. He remembered the bag he found on the floor, a bag with familiar printing of a certain candy brand. He remembered going home, confronting Stan, his anger boiling as Stan admitted, ADMITTED, to being the one who destroyed his chance of going to his dream school. He remembered being so angry as he yelled at Stan, watching Filbrick punch him across the face when he learned what he had done and threw him out with a bag and hearing a car speed away to the distance, curling up in bed and cried.

Cried because the only person he trusted more than life betrayed him. Betrayed him for his own selfish needs and dreams of sailing around in that—that boat! A boat with no future! No achievements! No nothing! It wouldn’t had lasted even a small day out in the ocean! Let alone sail properly!

“Would you?” He didn’t care if his voice sounded hallow or cold if it meant that Stan flinched from it. “Would you _really_ do that?”

Stan stayed quiet, still as stone as Ford continued to glare at him because he still hadn’t forgotten what he had done and he deserved what he got because Filbrick was right about him riding on his success and he was doing it again by making Ford feel guilty for him and—

“Honestly? Yeah, maybe. Yer happiness was all I wanted fer ya.”

Empty lies his lying he always lies and there’s nothing he wanted to give Ford except grief by taking away his chance to his dream school and and an—

“But if I did that, than I wouldn’t of had Nasha.” Stan smiled softly. “I mean, it was bad ‘nough I ruined yer chance at West Toast—”

“West Coast.”

“Yeah sorry, still hungry. But still, if I hadn’t done that I wouldn’t have wound up with my little girl. I mean, jeez! She was sure a surprise the first year I was kicked out ta find out I was preg—”

Stan froze.

Ford went still.

The basement suddenly seemed to drop a couple of degrees.

Ford’s grip went slack, dropping the pliers that clanged against the ground, echoing in the empty silence.

“… what.”

Stan fidgeted, looking at the machinery with hesitance and sudden interest.

“what.”

Stan refused to look at him.

“What.”

He pulled at wires.

“What.”

“Ford, please I—”

“ _What._ ”

“I-I don’t wanna talk ‘bout—”

“ ** _What._** ”

“Stanford I—”

“ ** _WH—_** ”

“ ** _I DON’T WANT TA TALK ‘BOUT IT OKAY?!_** ”

The room went silent again as Ford stared at Stan. His twin. His brother. His other half.

Openly letting small tears run down his grey face as he panted, broken with despair and humility.

“Jus’… _please_.” Ford’s breathing hitched. When had he ever heard Stanley sound so… broken? “Please I… I don’t want ta talk ‘bout it.” Stan wiped away his tears, putting on a brave face but Ford could still see the hurt in his eyes like how they look when he had turned his back on him when he called for help— “Not now.” Stan stood slowly, turning away from Ford and Ford wanted to reach out and grab him and turn him around and demand that what he almost heard wasn’t true but watched him as he went over to his child, his child, his child, his child that he had to take care of for how many years and picked her up. “I think we should go now.”

Go.

We go.

We go now.

We should go now.

We should go now.

We should Go now.

We should Go Now.

We Should Go Now.

We Should GO Now.

WE ShoUld GO Now.

WE SHOULD GO NOW.

 **WE SHOULD GO** —

“Wait!” Ford rushed over to them, putting a paw on Stanley’s shoulder and almost pulled it away when he felt Stan tense under his touch but. “Wait, please.” There was still so much more he wanted to know. Stan still hadn’t told him what happened. Stan didn’t tell him what he did to live or why he claimed to be homeless even though it was clear in some points by his looks and his smell that he probably **WAS** homeless and how he had his daughter-

“I… I think that’s enough for the portal for tonight. How about we get some rest and continue tomorrow?”

“… isn’t it safe ta say it won’t work now?”

Ford looked back, viewing their work. They only had small bit of one corner done, not enough to say confidently that the _demon doorway_ portal was good as done, but without power—

“It’s… still not enough. It needs to be _gone_.” Yes, it had to go. He couldn’t take the risk. He could have still partially complete because Bill would find a way to finish it and Stan couldn’t go, not yet. He needed answers and Stan had them and he was also worried that bring a sick child out to the cold—

“Let’s… let’s get some rest, shall we?” He held a paw out towards the door as his other paw still held onto his brother. His twin. His other half. “I have a spare room with a bed. Surely you must by tiered.”

Stan opened his mouth, possibly to deny Ford’s offer because he wasn’t charity case, but all that came out was a wide yawn, followed by a smaller yawn from his sleepy eyed child.

“… fine. But only ‘cause it’s past Nasha’s bedtime.”

Ford led the way to the elevator, the whole ride up to the main floor was agonizingly slow, too slow, so slow that Ford wished it would hurry because he needed to clear his head a bit and needed to process what he had just heard down there and no no no no no no what he heard couldn’t have been true but he did say that she didn’t have a mother and it didn’t quite exactly count as being one if but no that could be.

But maybe it was.

Maybe it was true.

Maybe he did almost hear his brother, his twin, his other half confessing that he was the one who who who who.

Stan had been pregnant.

Stan had been pregnant.

Stan had been _pregnant._

And his daughter, Nasha, was proof of that.


	6. Night visit

Ford paced around his room, arms tucked behind his back and his mind going wild.

Stan’s words still echoed in his head and no, no, it couldn’t be true. It just wasn’t possible. Even by Gravity Falls level of weirdness, it couldn’t have been possible!

Or maybe it was. Stan did say she didn’t have a _‘mother’_.

He could have just gotten together with a girl or something and accidentally impregnated her!

Would any girl really fall for someone like him? No money, no home, a gargoyle out on his own with no chance of a future?

He had a girlfriend, Carla McCorkle. Maybe they had done it.

No, Clara left him. Long before Stan got kicked out. She dumped him for someone else.

But then how could Stanley conceive a child? He didn’t have the parts for it! It just simply didn’t make any sense!

Ford growled, sitting harshly on the couch as he ran his paws through his hair. There was no way Stan had been the one who conceived and gave birth to his daughter. All facts were wrong. They had to be! Nasha couldn’t have been born from his brother. He was a male for Goddess sake!

With a sigh he fell back, staring up at the ceiling. But it would make more sense. Gargoyles weren’t well liked in society. Stan wouldn’t have had the chance with any female and stay with them long enough for his child to be born. And there would be no way for him to suddenly be in care of that child once the mother had given birth. Child of a gargoyle or not, the government made sure that all child monsters were cared for in their first few years.

Since Stan would likely be labeled as inefficient to care for his child once she was born, the government would probably had taken her away.

Which now was making this whole more sense that his brother was the one who was pregnant and—

“This is a mess!” Ford groaned in his paws.

There was no doubt as he though it over that Stan had been the one to give birth to his daughter. But he still hardly believed that could possibly happen! And even if that did happen, that would mean Stan had been impregnated by some random male.

A male who got their cock inside his twin.

That thought made Ford bristle. Some random low life had gotten inside his twin and impregnated him on his first year of being homeless. They made him suffer the burden of caring for their child. A child that had no idea who had fathered her inside his brother.

Ford sat up, leaning against his knees with deep anger.

Who would do such a thing to him? And why? Did Stan unknowingly accidentally impregnated himself by selling his body to survive? Or was it by forceful means?

The more he thought about it, the more Ford got angry. He could almost see them, holding his brother down as they shoved their cock inside him, filling him with their filthy seed that led to his pregnancy. He could imagine the pained look on Stan’s face as he weakly watched the white liquid drip out of his redden holes, overfilled with so much cum. Cum that came from someone else and not him because Stan was his and he only had the pleasure to filled his twin with his cum an—

“What am I thinking?” Ford gasped, blinking out of his thoughts. Did he honestly just think about having sex with his own brother?! No, no he couldn’t of have! They were brothers! He would never do such a thing to him!

_But you did…_

Cold seeped into his body. That’s right. He had hadn’t he? He had done it with his twin while he slept and never even knew about it. He had taken advantage of him and used him from his own pleasure.

He still remembered how it felt. The soft tissue of his brother’s false wombs hole, pressing against his cock with warmth that was unbelievably caressed touch. How warm it felt, being so deep inside and—

Good.

 ** _GODDESSES_**.

Now he was getting hard just thinking about it!

Growling, he stood up and headed to the bathroom, filling the tub with cold water and shivered as he sunk in. While still clothed.

A few minutes passed before he felt numb enough to crawl out and drain the water. His clothes stuck to his body like a wet blanket. But it was alright. The water did the trick. He just needed to dry off now.

And not fall asleep.

That would be easy to do since he stored up on Modafinil.

_How long do you plan to keep drugging yourself like this?_

No clue. Bill would likely be mad at him now that his one way in was out of power and being deconstructed. And he most certainly wouldn’t be happy that Stan had given him the idea to destroy the blueprints. Two of his journals were already hidden, the third would have its page of the blueprint torn out tomorrow and burned.

And then they would be back to dismantling the portal.

_And then what?_

He didn’t know. With the threat of Bill still hanging over his head, he needed to find a way to protect himself in case the demon wanted to take control of him at some point. Preferably Ford _really_ didn’t want that to happen when his brother and his daughter were still here.

Stan only knew part of what was going on. He didn’t know the full details of Bill and what he could do.

_Like possessing someone in their sleep?_

Exactly. Which was why Ford had put up a few ruins in Fiddleford’s old room where his two house guests were sleeping in right now. It wasn’t very much, just simple charms with a spell that was supposed to keep out dream invaders. His magic wasn’t as strong as he liked it to be, but Stan, thank goodness, had plenty left in him, even when he didn’t understand any of Ford’s work.

He didn’t care to ask though, and he was out like a light once he curled up around his child in bed.

At least they would get some sleep tonight, Ford thought, pulling out a hidden bottle under the couch. He wasn’t going to risk any chance of Bill trying to do anything tonight. He was too dangerous to be trusted and he didn’t want any harm to come to his family. Bill had tricks up his sleeve. He was a master of manipulation. His words would fool anyone into false security. And worst of all—

His eyes nearly popped out of his head.

The bottle was empty.

With a note stuck inside.

A note written in blood.

His blood.

And marked in a mocking tone that he could **hear** that creation laughing at him right now.

**_ SORRY! NO ALL NIGHTERS FOR YOU SIXER! _ **

Hot anger boiled in him, gripping the bottle tightly and without second thought, threw it to the wall, shattering it on impact. Shards fell to the floor, littering the ground like snowflakes. Hardly enough to cool his anger though.

Ford growled, rubbing his face and paced the floor. Sleep was not an option. He couldn’t let Bill get any chances to win and bring harm his family. But his body won’t stay awake forever. He could already feel that he was at his limit. He didn’t know how long he could hold out till he collapsed from exhaustion.

“I can’t.”

_You most certainly will._

“I’ll fight it.”

_For how long?_

“I don’t know. But I must.”

_You can’t._

“I’ll try.”

_What would Stan say if he found out?_

Ford stopped, his body tensing. He thought back when Stan looked at him with deep concern when he first saw him. What would he say if he known that Ford was basically killing himself like this?

_Most likely force you to take better care of yourself probably._

He probably would.

Ford sat cross-legged on the floor, thinking deeply. He couldn’t force his body to stay awake at its limit, and he couldn’t sleep with the threat of Bill hanging over him. He needed to find a way to keep his family safe and himself contained if Bill did try to possess him tonight.

But how? Simple charms weren’t going to help in this case. Bill couldn’t enter without some way to enter his brother’s or his child’s mind. They hadn’t made any deals with him or allowed their minds to be entered.

… He hoped.

But he himself was a different case. Since his deal with Bill allowed him to take control whenever he wanted, Ford had the higher risk of the demon entering him. There was no way for him to stop that!

_Then why not contain him?_

There was no way to contain him! He was a dream demon! A master in a universe of his own hand and existed in a place of mind than matter! He only needed a physical body to reach this plane of dimension and—

“I got it.” His eyes shined, getting up and running around the room, gathering supplies. Grabbing some chalk, he made a circle on the ground, drawing a fixe star diagram, and spelling out incantations carefully.

_It worked once, it’ll work again._

Once everything was drawn, he set a candle on each point of the star, lighting them one by one in a certain order. Once the last candle was lit, Ford plucked a feather from his wings, chanting the spell as he held the feather to the flame, watching it burn to ashes. He finished the spell once the last of the feather had burned away, and the circle glowed with a bright aura.

Taking a deep breath, Ford stepped inside, sitting down on the center. His body felt all tingly and light, giving Ford so sense of relief that the circle would work.

)*(

When he opened his eyes, dread filled his gut.

Books floated around, a world of stars surrounded him, and…

“ ** _Bill._** ”

The demon sat in a chair made of blue light, sitting slack with one leg over the other, resting his head against his knuckles of one arm rested at the arm of the chair, his other arm laid across his lap. He could see the demon’s face as his large top hat was tilted downwards, covering him from view.

 **_ “Well well well. Look who  _ ** ** finally _decided to get some sleep. It’s about time you clocked out Sixer.”_ **

All hair on his body bristled, clenching and unclenching his paws. “Don’t act like you care.”

The arm against Bill’s lap lifted, pushing his hat up and showing the demon’s face. His smirking calm face.

 ** _“Don’t be such a downer Sixer! I care about ya! There’s no need to be all hostel towards your old pal.”_** Bill snapped his finger and a table with a chessboard appeared. **_“Care for a game?”_**

“… I thought you would be a little more angry than this.” Ford eyed the table, keeping to the spot where he stood.

 ** _“Oh believe me pal.”_** Bill chuckled, sitting up straight and placing his elbows against his knees, locking his fingers together and leaning his head on them. **_“I’m completely furious right now.”_** His right and only eye glared at Ford, freezing him there. **_“But that doesn’t mean we can still be friends here!”_** He snapped his fingers again, and Ford found himself suddenly in a chair, pulled up to the table harshly enough that his front half slammed into the table.

Even if the body didn’t take any really damage in the mindscape, it still didn’t save him from feeling pain from it. “We’re **not** friends.” He glared at Bill as the demon continued to smirk at him. “You tricked me. You used me as a puppet!”

 ** _“Yeah yeah! That old stuff.”_** Bill waved one hand indiscreetly. **_“That’ all in the past however. Let’s just relax a bit and catch up on some stuff.”_** A tea set snapped into existence. **_“You seemed to be pretty busy now that your brother’s here. And he got pretty busy himself!”_**

“Leave Stanley out of this. I know you’re only trying to let my guard down. Whatever you have planned won’t work Cipher. The portal has no power! It’s useless!” Ford glared harder at Bill as he poured himself a cup, drinking so calmly it made Ford’s blood boil.

 ** _“Hmmmm, you may be right. My portal plan is ruined. I guess I’ll never be able to get to your world and have my little fun now…”_** Bill grinned widely, his slit pupil gleamed. **_“Or not.”_**

Ford went on edge, gripping the table tightly. “What do you mean? What do you have planned Bill?!”

 ** _“Oh calm down, I’m just messing with you! We both know that you can’t stop what’s coming! So you took away the power and dismantles it a bit. So what?”_** Bill shrugged, leaning back in his chair. **_“I could always take over and rebuild it! Getting power back in will be a small problem though.”_**

“Not if I have anything to say about that! Stan and I will have that blasted thing gone before you can do anything about it!”

 ** _“Ah. Yes. Your twin.”_** Bill took a piece off the chessboard, twisting it in his grasp. **_“Funny how you call the one person who ruined your life for help. The one person who destroyed your chance at West Coast Tech. I was always wanted to meet him. He seems like a… interesting fellow.”_**

“You touch him, and I’ll—”

 ** _“You’ll what Stanford?”_** Bill set the piece down, smiling at Ford. **_“What_ exactly _can you do to harm someone like me?”_**

Everything.

Anything.

Something.

Nothing.

Ford slumped a little. There _was_ nothing he could do. “… I could tell Stan about you. He’ll know not to trust you.”

**_ “And how would that work in the long run?” _ **

Ford bit his lip.

 ** _“Thought so.”_** Bill levitated a piece up, placing it in a new spot on the board. **_“Your move.”_**

Ford looked at the board. Casting a glance at the demon, he moved a piece. “Why are you so calm about this? I thought you would be putting me in some sort of torture right about now.”

Bill shrugged, moving another piece. **_“I thought about doing that, and as fun as it sounded, I thought it would have been fun to walk around in your brother’s body for a bit.”_** He smirked as Ford tensed. It faded quickly however. **_“Unfortunately, it seems that I didn’t account that gargoyles have strong protections to their minds. Even his kid is hard to get into, and she’s only half gargoyle!”_** Bill sighed dramatically. **_“I guess there’s something I can’t do.”_**

This made Ford smile a bit. At least his family was safe from possession.

**_ “Though, I am curious to your brother’s life style. I mean, living with a kid must be tough. Especially since there’s no telling who put her in his belly all those years ago.” _ **

A small spark of anger flashed through Ford. “Males can’t get pregnant. It’s impossible.”

Bill hummed, nodding his head side to side. **_“True… for everyone else. Gargoyles, however, are a different case.”_** Bill tapped his chin, gaining Ford’s attention. **_“You see, back in the old days, when things were rough and still young, the gargoyle population was not very large. Few females were born and could only care for one kid at a time. That’s about the time old Goddess of the Night stepped in. She couldn’t do anything to make more gargoyles appear, but what she did was give males the gift of bearing children. And boy howdy was it a party for them! But after old Moony got destroyed by sister dear and gargoyles were downgraded in society, the males started to lose the ability to conceive kids, giving them what everyone calls the ‘false womb’.”_** He made air quotes at the last words.

“Yes, I’ve read about that.” Ford glanced at the board, moving another piece on his turn. “Every male lost fertility in their false womb as time went by, and many took advantage over them in the Dark Age.”

 ** _“EEEEEEEEEEENNNNNNNNN!”_** Bill made a buzzard sound, putting his pointer fingers together to form an X. **_“Not_ every _male. See, even as time went on and the use of false wombs faded, it didn’t mean that they_ disappeared _forever. Once or twice in history a male goyle got knocked up. Stan-o just happens to be one of the rare few with a fertile false womb.”_** He took a long sip, sighing happily. **_“I wonder how many got inside of him? Filling him up and putting his kid in him? I wonder if he ever got in contact from the guy that got him on his knees begging as he filled him with his seed. How many nights he spent thinking about them after finding he had a little meat sack growing in h—”_**

That did it.

Ford grabbed the table, flipping it over and lunged at Bill. The demon laughed as he went out of Ford’s reach, flying high above him.

 ** _“MY! So aggressive!”_** Bill mocked as Ford went after him.

“ **YOU WILL NOT SPEAK ABOUT MY BROTHER THAT WAY!** ” Ford growled, summoning guns and firing at the demon.

**_ “I was just stating the truth here!” _ **

Bill pulled out his cane, deflecting the attack and smirked down at the sphinx.

So many night he had looked up at this being. Long limbs, dressed in formal attire pants, white under shirt covered by a yellow coat with two long coattails with a brick pattern. Glossed shoes, black gloves with a top hat floating above his head. His skin was brown as black earth, jaw sharp and short messy golden hair. Over his left eye was an eye patch shaped as an upside down triangle with a right-sided pyramid printed on it. His only visible eye was yellow with a slit pupil.

Some many days had gone by, trusting this being of nightmares. Now he only found himself disgusted just looking at him.

 ** _“Well this has been fun. But I must get going. Till the nest time we met again Sixer!”_** The area went black as Bill laughter echoed in the darkness. A tugging pull inside his chest alerted Ford that his body was waking up, and soon he was falling.

Ford gasped as he woke up. He sighed, slumping in on himself. Now he was even more worried than ever before! Bill was planning something. And he needed to stop it.

“Ahem.”

Ford jumped, turning his head and looked at the glare Stan was giving him, sitting on the couch with his arms crossed over his chest.

“Mind tellin’ me what this is all ‘bout?”


	7. No sleep for the restless

Stan was not happy.

He knew something else was going on the moment he fell asleep. Or at least tried to.

Just after Nasha was tucked in and he curled around her like he always did, he found himself suddenly snapping his eyes open seven minutes later, lifting his head and scanning the room. They were always in the line of danger, always had some form of threat hanging over them in every way possible. Stan had to keep his guard up all the time to keep both his daughter and himself safe.

There wasn’t anything in the room. Stan refused to have the lights turned off, despite having night vision. But there was clearly no threat. Except maybe the furnace in the one corner. He’s pretty sure that’s some sort of hazard or something.

Looking around again, Stan shrugged, trying to fall back asleep.

Nine minutes later, the same thing happened. His eyes snapped open, he looks around, still no threat, and falls back asleep. Four minutes later, the cycle happens again. After the fourth time, Stan _knows_ there’s something wrong.

There was a nagging, edging feeling in his brain that didn’t still right with him. So he decided to stay awake this time, planning to get some sleep later.

Ten minutes later, Nasha opened her eyes.

“What’s the matter sweetie? Shouldn’t ya be sleepin’?” Stan quietly spook as Nasha scooted closer to him, snuggling into his side.

“Was.” She mumbled sleepily. “But felt wrong.”

Stan frowned, placing the back of his hand against her head. “You still feel a little warm there. How ya holdin’ up?”

“M’ fine.” Nasha replied, coughing slightly.

Stan sighed, slipping out of bed. “Yer fever still seems pretty bad. I’m gonna go find that bottle of medicine.”

“No daddy. Didn’t want medicine.” Nasha whined. “It’s yucky.”

“I know sweetie, I know. But it’ll help you get better.” Stan patted her head. “You jus’ get some more rest okay?”

Nasha huffed sadly, but nodded. Stan left, heading downstairs and searched around for the bottle. He found it on the counter, but was mildly disappointed to find it empty. They hadn’t used the last of it had they? Sighing irately, Stan chucked the bottle in the trash, going to the kitchen and grabbed a cup.

“At least you have good plumin’.” Stan muttered, filling the cup with water. Turning the fuchsite off, he made his way back upstairs. Nasha peeked out from under the blankets as he stepped in.

“No medicine?”

“‘fraid not.” Stan handed her the cup. “I guess you’ll have ta wait it out.”

Nasha nodded, frowning a bit. “Uncle Ford’s place feels weird.”

“Nasha, Ford’s place is fine. It’s safe here.” Stan bent down, looking in his daughter’s eyes with a soft smile. “It’s not like all those other places we had ta stay in. An’ the bed is comfy here too.” He patted the bed.

“But that’s not it. This place is scary, and it feels like someone’s watching me.”

Stan frowned a bit. He didn’t want to admit that he felt… off with this place. Even the machine down below gave him bad vibes. But Stanford was his twin. He couldn’t up and abandon him. Not when he was in need of his help.

“I’m sure it jus’ ‘cause yer not used ta this place yet.” Stan shifted the blankets, wrapping it around Nasha. “I’m sure after a little while, you’ll settle in. It may be scary now, but remember what I taught ya.”

“Nothin’s more scarier than a gargoyle.”

“Atta girl.” Stan ruffled her hair, earning small giggles from her.

“But daddy, what’s going to happen when you’re done helping Uncle Ford with the portal?”

Stan paused, looking downwards. “… I don’t know.”

Nasha frowned, looking down at the cup clutched between her mittens. “Oh…”

Stan sighed, crawling back into bed and curled around his child. “I’ll figure something out sweetie. Don’t worry.”

Nasha didn’t reply, drinking her water and yawned. “I wish we had something to eat…” She sleepily stated, letting her father take the half-finished cup and snuggled into his side.

Stan sighed, placing the cup on the nightstand beside the bed. “I know, sweetie. I know.”

Thirty minutes passed and Nasha slept peacefully. Stan not so much. He wasn’t sure why he was still awake, but he was. His eyes kept looking down to his side where his little girl curled up next to him, sleeping peacefully for once in a long time. She looked so peaceful, so calm and not staying up with one eye open thinking her father wouldn’t notice as he kept guard.

This was how she was supposed to be. Not worrying about the dangers and being what he always wanted for her. A normal kid.

He still wasn’t sure if he could still give her a normal life, and he was certain that leaving her in Ford’s care would be a disaster! How did that guy _live_ with himself like this for so long? His place was a wreck! Not to mention all the boards placed up on all the windows and keep out signs.

Total antisocial.

“What have ya gotten yerself into Sixer?” Stan sighed quietly, laying his head down and tried to get some sleep.

It worked for an hour, till the sound of water running reached his ears.

One eye blinked open. Yep. He was defiantly hearing water running. Though it wasn’t coming from a small faucet. Was Ford taking a shower? At this time of… He took a quick glance at the window. Yeah, okay, it was night time, but still, really Ford? At this hour?

Stan snapped his attention to his daughter as she shifted a bit, incoherently mumbling under her breath, and still again after a moment. He waited for a minute before relaxing as Nasha continued to sleep without disturbance. Ford was lucky he didn’t wake his kid or otherwise he had some explaining to do.

Starting with why he decided to run a bath at this time.

Not that he would complain about hygiene, do to his fair share. But, sheesh, couldn’t he just take one in the morning?

Sighing, he tried going back to sleep.

Jumping up minutes later when he heard glass breaking, jolting Nasha awake.

“W-wha?” She blinked sleepily, looking around.

“Good back ta sleep Nasha.” Stan nuzzled Nasha’s head, keeping to the slow action for a few minutes till her eyes drooped and went back to sleep.

Okay, NOW Ford was going to get it.

Slipping out of the bed carefully, Stan made his way downstairs. His stone talon feet scrapped against the wood as he briskly made his way to the lower level, scanning around for his brother.

When he did find him, he found Ford sitting in the middle of some sort of voodoo circle thing on the floor. A voodoo circle thing that was giving off a strong magical aura.

Stan didn’t know why he suddenly felt angry seeing this, but it did and he stomped over, reaching out to Ford to shake his awake and demand what this was all about. His hand was stopped by an invisible force.

Coming from the circle.

Stan stared at it for a long, long moment. Looking up at his brother, he growled and sat himself down the couch. “Ya better have a good reason when ya wake up Ford.”

)*(

Tension was high in the room between them.

Both twins sat far away from each other on the couch, one glaring and the other looking shamefully on the floor.

Ford could tell that Stan was getting impatient with his stalling, and he didn’t want to wait for him to snap. “… I haven’t been telling you the whole story.”

Stan snorted. “Obviously.”

“… And I know you would have good reason to question my actions.” Ford nodded towards the circle. “And I don’t know how much I can tell you to help you understand all this.”

“Yer talking to a guy who had ta go through child birth.”

Ford cleared his throat. “Yes well. The point is is that I made a powerful enemy Stan. One with whom I once thought was my friend but was really only using me to his advantage.”

“Ya mean the one who gave ya the blueprints?”

Ford nodded. “Yes. The same one.”

There was a moment of silence between them before Stan sighed. “Alright Stanford, how ‘bout you start talkin’. I want ta know everthin’, an’ I mean _everythin’_ that’s goin’ on here. Startin’ with this guy. Who is he anyway?”

“Not who Stanley. What.” Ford looked at his brother, gazing deep into his eyes. “And that _what_ is a demon named Bill Cipher.”


	8. Gnomes

He expected a glare.

He expected long silence.

He expected scoffing disbelief.

He expected him to roll his eyes and call him out on such a farfetched claim.

He didn’t expect to see him bend over snorting.

“THIS ISN’T FUNNY STANLEY!” Ford growled as the gargoyle recovered from laughing. “I’m Being Serious!”

Stan wiped a tear away from his eyes, letting out a small deep sigh. “A demon? Really Ford? Ya couldn’t have jus’ said wizard or warlock or whatever has magic powers or somethin’? Cause that be more believable than a demon.”

“But Bill **_IS_** a demon! A **_DREAM_** demon!” Ford got off the couch. “He’s been haunting me ever since I discovered his plans! Tormenting me for his own enjoyment! I hadn’t slept for **_DAYS_** because I was worried he would take control of me and do **_BLOODY_** harm to me!”

Stan’s face fell, watching Ford catch his breath after his little rant. “… It’s that bad… huh?”

“ _Yes!_ ” Ford hiss, gripping his face in his paws. “You… you have **_no_** idea what it’s been like Stanley.” His paws went down his face, gripping his arms tightly. “He’s always watching me. Spying on my every move, my every action! I!” He pointed to the incantation to the ground. “I had to make _that_ so that he wouldn’t do _anything_ while I **_slept_**!”

Stan looked between Ford and the circle, raising an eyebrow. “But you got out just fine.”

“It’s designed to keep forces in or out that don’t have the casters aura.”

Stan scrunched his face. “Eh, what?”

“It’s—” Ford sighed, pinching his nose. “Never mind. The point is that Bill is dangerous! He’s a demon who can enter your dreams and make you live in a world of nightmares! He can possess people and walk around in their bodies! He’s dangerous Stanley! DANGEROUS!”

Stan scooted back, feeling a bit uneasy as Ford’s eyes went wild.

“That why—we need to—I have to—!” Ford fell to the floor, clutching his head and groaned loudly. “I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO!”

“Whoa! Hey, come on Stanford! Yer gettin’ me all nervous here.” Stan got off the couch and kneeled down beside his brother. “Okay, I get it. It’s bad. This Bill guy got ya in a bind.” He reached out to his trembling twin, rubbing his hand up and down his arm. “But freakin’ out ‘bout it not goin’ ta solve anythin’. I know. I’ve been there.” He remembered being in the car holding his newborn daughter in his weak arms, confused beyond all things and freaking out about what to do next.

“You need ta calm down Ford. Take a deep breath or somethin’. Think positive thoughts an’ jus’ relax. Bill’s not here now. He can’t get ya while I’m here.”

“N-n-no. He can.” Ford curled up, shaking as Stan continued to stroke his arm gently. “He watches me. He _messes_ with my brain.”

“He’s not goin’ ta get ya. Not while I’m here.”

Ford shook his head. “He’ll get you too…”

Stan snorted. “I highly doubt that.”

)*(

“Careful guys. _Carefuuuuu_ -Ack!”

THUD.

Nasha flinched slightly, opening her eyes. Her daddy was gone again.

“Look what you idiots did! _Oh! Ssssh._ ”

Nasha stayed very still, feeling eyes looking towards the bed where she laid curled up under the blankets.

“Okay, they’re still asleep. Come on down, but quietly.”

Two softly sounded thumps reached her ears, listening as pattering sounds went from one side of the bed to the other.

There was soft mumbling. Nasha peeked out, spying small red triangles poking out at the side of the bed.

“Okay boys, gargoyles are notoriously known for having big loots. Let’s see what treasures this guy has.”

Nasha slowly peeked over the edge, her eyes widening as three small bearded men opened her daddy’s bag and began to look through it.

“Kids clothes, coloring books, crayons, car keys, scarf, glasses toothbrush, toothpaste… what is all this junk?!” The little man with the brown beard cried out. “Where’s the gold? Gems and pearls! This can’t be all that he has!” The two other little men nodded, greatly disappointed in their search.

“Oh well.” The brown bearded little man shrugged. “Guess we’ll have to raid the kitchen again. Good thing no one’s spotted us yet!” He chuckled, not knowing that there was someone behind him slowly getting ready to pounce.

)*(

It took some time, but Ford managed to get his breathing under control, though he was still shaking quite a bit. Now the twins were leaning against the couch and Stan still continued to rub his twin’s shoulder.

“Feel better?”

Ford nodded slightly, adjusting his glasses. “Somewhat.”

Stan nodded. “Okay, okay so. Bill, not a good person or thing or whatever.” Stan shrugged. “Look, I get that yer nervous an’ scared out of yer wits here, but that ain’t gonna help in this situation. His main target is the portal right? So we jus’ have ta take it apart more an’ it’s game over fer—”

“No.”

Stan raised an eyebrow at Ford. “No?”

Ford shook his head. “No. He’ll just take control of me and do something. I’m dangerous to be around you Stanley.”

“Uh, ya know ya didn’t have a chance at beatin’ me when I had ya pinned down yesterday.”

“He could figure something out. Something to use against you.” Ford shook his head. “He can’t take control of me when I’m in that circle when I sleep. But it’s not a permanent solution. I’ll slip up and when I do he’ll be there.” He looked at Stan, his face saddened as he looked deep into his twin’s concerned eyes. “It’s not safe here Stanley. You and Nasha should leave before something bad happens… and it’ll be all my fault.”

“No. Way.”

Ford blinked. “What?”

“Like I would jus’ up an’ abandon ya! Okay this guy sounds bad, but I’ve seen much worse. I’ve _done_ worse Sixy. But look, there’s got ta be a way ta keep him out long enough fer us ta—”

“Sixy?”

Stan paused. Ford scrunched his face a little as he look at his brother.

“Th-That’s not the nickname you gave me when we were kids.” He scooted away a little, eyeing Stan warily.

It took a minuet before Stan’s eyes widened. “Oh! Sorry.” He held up his hands. “I’ve been usin’ that nickname fer years. Couldn’t really call ‘em Sixer. Too many memories.”

Ford scanned Stanley slowly. “Who… who do you call Sixy?”

Stan opened his mouth to reply, only for the door to swing open. “DADDY!”

Both older men looked as Nasha came running in, bouncing up and down in front of them as they stared at her dumbstruck. “Little Men Daddy! Little Men!”

Three gnomes were held tightly in Nasha’s arms, one on the left being held upside-down and all looking worn out and battered.

“Help us.” The middle gnome with a brown beard pleaded.

Stan blinked as he stared at the three gnomes his daughter had caught. “Uuh, go-good job sweetie.” He gave her a thumbs up. “Nice catch there.”

Nasha beamed, hugging the gnomes tighter.

Ford stared at the scene before him, looking at the small girl squeezing the life out of three small gnomes in her arms.

Her clothes looked much cleaner that Stan’s own clothes, but her wings caught his attention. Big and wide, they almost dwarfed the girl in size. They appeared to be more gargoyle shaped but the top half had feathers. Colorful feathers like him. Her tail waged behind her, same as a gargoyle tail but with fur covering it with a small bundle of gathered fur at the end.

The more he stared at her, the more Ford wondered who her father was. But he could tell that it must have been sphinx.


	9. Sixer and Sixy

After the gnomes had left, much to Nasha’s disappointment, the three sat around on the couch in the living room. Their stomachs rumbled, empty and begging for something to eat.

“Okay, I’ll be frank here.” Stan broke the silence. “Either we die starvin’ or go out an’ grab a bite.”

“We can’t do that Stanley. It would just give Bill a chance to strike.”

“Starvin’ isn’t gonna help either Ford.”

“I know I know. But leaving the shack unattended would give Bill the chance to infiltrate and work on fixing the portal.”

Stan sighed. “Alright, then one of us is goin’ ta have ta go out an’ get food while the other stays here on guard duty.”

Ford shook his head. “I can’t do either of those Stanley. Bill could take control of me while I’m out there or reactivate the portal while I’m here.”

“… ya jus’ don’t make thin’s simple do ya?” Stan slumped in the couch, sighing tiredly.

Nasha, nestled between the two, looked between them. “No food?”

Ford frowned as his stomach protested. Sighing, he ran one paw through his hair. “Okay, look. Bill most likely won’t possess me while I’m awake, so there’s a fair chance I can stay here in case he tries something. _However_ I don’t feel comfortable having free roaming privilege around the place. I can make another incantation in the storage room near the portal. That way if Bill tries anything, I can either be safely locked in one place or stop him from doing anything.”

Stan stayed silent as he mulled over Ford’s plan. “Ya think it’ll work?”

“It’s the best chance that we got.”

“Then it sounds like a plan ta me.” Stan stood up, stretching a bit. “Though, yer gonna have to watch Nasha while I’m out.”

“What?!” Ford jumped up.

“Ford, she’s sick. I can’t take her out _there_! It’s too cold fer her an’ she needs ta get as much rest as possible.” Stan paused a bit. “Maybe I can grab some medicine while I’m out.”

“But Bill—!”

“He ain’t gonna do squat ta her. She’s a tough gal.” Stan smiled down at Nasha. “Besides, you’ll need all the help you can get here.”

“I can help!” Nasha chirped up before letting out a cough.

Ford looked between the two before sighing. “Alright. Just let me grab a few things. I should have some money somewhere.”

)*(

Without Stan around, Ford felt a little awkward around his niece.

Stan had given her a coloring book to work on as they waited for Stan to return. Now she laid out on the floor, humming as she colored.

Ford had lost interest of the book he had with him inside the circle, watching the young girl instead. Mostly to her feet and hands, still covered by small boots and mittens. Why? Surely this place wasn’t too cold for her to wear them. Was it?

“Nasha.” Ford set the book down, gaining her attention. “Are you cold?”

Nasha shook her head. “No. I’m fine Uncle Ford.”

“Are you sure?” Nasha nodded her head. “Then why are you still wearing your boots? And your mittens?”

Nasha shrugged. “Cause I want to?”

“But it doesn’t mean that you have to.”

Nasha looked down, biting her lip. “Yes it does.”

Ford blinked. He watched as Nasha went back to coloring, making no sound as she colored a flower purple.

What had she meant by that? Surely there was nothing wrong with her that would make her hide herself? She looked normal enough. Well aside from the obvious features in her appeara—

OOOOH.

“Nasha?”

She looked back up at him.

“Are…” He licked his lips. “… Are you… ashamed of your looks?”

The way that Nasha looked away with her ears pressed against her head was all that he needed to confirm his fear.

“People don’t like hybrids. They’re not sure of which we belong to… they don’t like me being part gargoyle.”

Ford’s heart clenched, breaking as he understood her pain. Not many would be so kind to hybrids. They had low expectations for crossbreeds and even have violent occurrences that resulted in a hybrids death before they could even reach adulthood. After so many deaths, the government finally stepped in about fifteen years ago. Last he heard it was mostly successful, but it didn’t seem to be a perfect solution in this case.

The pain, sadden look on her face told Ford that something’s were hard on her life. Just like his.

Ford looked at his paws. He often wondered if he could ever been born without an extra finger, to be born normal. Stan and their ma kept telling him that it meant that he was special, but it didn’t feel like it when everyone else found them creepy and freakish. So different and out of place in the world.

Ford’s eyes lit up as an idea formed in his head.

“Nasha, can you count how many fingers I have?”

Nasha looked at like he was crazy. Some part of him maybe was. “Why?”

“I want to show you something.” He held up his paws, showing them to the little girl.

She looked at him curiously but complied, counting out Ford’s fingers. “1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10… 11…” Her eyes widened. “You have twelve fingers?” She whispered in awe.

Ford chuckled. “Yes, I do.” Nasha scooted closer, looking at his paws with wide eyed wonder. “I was born with an extra finger on my paws from a rare defect called hexadactyly.” He smiled as she put one mitten clad hand to shield, putting one paw against hers. “When I was young, I got bullied a lot for this. Your father was the only one who thought I was special and never made me feel bad for it.”

Nasha smiled at him, and he smiled back. But then she frowned, pulling her hand away and looked at her mittens. She looked back up at him, then proceeded to take off her mittens and held up her hands.

Ford’s heart almost stopped.

Little silvery furred hands that looked just like Stan’s.

With an extra finger.

Ford smiled as tears formed in his eyes, pressing his six fingered paws against Nasha own six fingered little hands.

“Daddy never told much about you.” Nasha gazed at the size difference her hands were against Ford’s paws. “I only learned about you when you sent daddy the postcard. He never talked about family when we were out there.”

Ford was a little hurt by this. “He never talked about us?”

Nasha shook her head. “I asked, but he said it was too painful to talk about. Something about a mistake happening?”

“Ah.” Ford ducked his head. “I see…”

“… I was really angry at him!” Ford looked surprised. Nasha puffed her cheeks out, folding her arms against her chest. “He never told me he had a brother! When he told me, I threw my hands up high and shouted.” She held her hands above her head, putting on a shocked face. “I HAVE AN UNCLE?!”

Ford snorted, throwing his head back and, in the first time since this whole mess started, laughed.

“I was really angry at him!” Nasha huffed, crossing her arms over her chest again. “And at you too!”

The laughter came to a stop. “W-what?”

“You missed _nine_ of my birthdays! Nine!”

Ford blinked at her before falling back into laughter. “I’ll make sure to make it up to you later.” He chuckled, wiping his eyes.

“You better!” Nasha huffed.


	10. What happened?

Thirty minutes had gone by since Stan left and came back with three bags.

Two of them were filled with food, and the third was medication.

Ford looked at Nasha somatically. Her head was laid out on the kitchen table, sticking her tongue out in disgust from the medicine she had taken. “Don’t worry Nasha. I’m sure you’ll be well soon enough that you won’t need to take medicine anymore.”

“Still yucky.” She mumbled, looking towards Stan. “Food?”

“Almost ready.” Stan flipped the pancake he was working on. Its warm scent filled the room, making Ford’s mouth water.

Good Goddess, he was starving! When was the last time that he ate?

“Alright, bottoms up!” Stan stack the last pancake on top of a pile of pancakes, bringing the plate over to the table.

“Pancakes!” Nasha cheered as Stan put three pancake down on her awaiting plate.

“Now we won’t starve today at least.” Ford smiled, nodding his head in thanks as Stan gave him four pancakes and had the rest to himself.

“Tell me ‘bout it. It’s been a while since we had these.” Stan sat down across from Ford, digging into his own plate. Pure bliss came on his face, sighing contently. “I needed that.”

Ford smiled, taking a piece and chomping down on it. It was a plain pancake, but to Ford it was the tastiest pancake he ever had.

“Nasha! Don’t eat like an animal at the table.” Stan scowled at his daughter as she tried stuffing a whole pancake in her mouth.

“Mn m munnry.”

Stan sighed, shaking his head. “Look, sweetie, ya can’t jus’ do that ‘round anybody. It looks rude ta them.”

“I don’t mind it.” Ford smiled at Nasha’s little antic. “It’s what you used to do when Ma made pancakes.”

Nasha looked at her father raising an eyebrow. “Mmmy?”

“Kid, don’t talk with yer mouth full. No one can understand ya.”

Nasha finished the pancake and looked at her father earnestly. “Really?”

Stan glanced away a bit but sighed and nodded. “Yeah, used ta try an’ eat a whole stack of ‘em at once.” He chuckled. “Ma was not happy with me.”

“No see was not.” Ford agreed, remembering seeing the disproving, but grinning face of their mother as Stan stuffed his face with pancakes.

“What’s grandma like?”

Ford looked at Stan. “… You really did never talk about us huh?”

Stan gazed at his plate. “Never felt comfortable ta talk ‘bout it.”

Ford nodded slowly in understanding, then smiled as he addressed Nasha. “Your grandmother is a very nice woman. A profound liar in her line of work, but none the less a nice woman.”

“Like daddy?”

“I’m sure that’s who he inherited it from.” He gave her a wink.

Nasha giggled. “And what about grandpa?”

The twins froze. They looked at each other, both knowing and hating the answer for it.

“… we… don’t talk ‘bout, uh, yer grandpa sweetie.” Stan said slowly.

Nasha looked at them curiously, sensing there was something going on. “Why not?”

“Because he’s not someone we don’t want you to meet.” Ford answered, thinking back to the monster they called father. Thinking back to the night he threw Stan out. Back then he would have said it was justly, but now? Sitting here with his brother and his little niece? Maybe not so much.

“Oh…” Nasha poked at her food, suddenly looking up again. “What type of monster is grandma?”

“She’s a harpy.” Stan answered happily, seemingly relieved to switch back to their mother. “Half lady, half bird, an’ allll spunk. Yer kinda like her at times. Quick wit, smart, _a wittle cutie_.” Nasha giggled as he tickled her under her ear. “An’ good at readin’ people.”

Nasha smiled brightly. “I want to meet grandma!”

Stan eyes widened. “Whoa whoa whoa kiddo. Let’s uh, let’s not get ahead of ourselves here. I mean, she can be very busy woman an’ she doesn’t want ta be interrupted in her work. We can’t jus’ drop by uninvited.”

Nasha’s smile fell sadly. “Okay.”

Ford glared at Stan as Nasha continued to eat. Stan shook his head, mouthing later before digging into his meal. Seeing how this conversation wasn’t going to continue, Ford sigh and went back to finishing his pancakes.

)*(

“Why?” Ford growled as Stan entered the room. “Why did you lie to her?”

“Ford, I already told you I can’t ‘cause of pa.” Stan crossed his arms, looking to the floor. “I want her ta meet ma, I really do! But I don’t want that _monster_ near her either.”

“You never even told her why you were out there in the first place.”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Why?!” Ford could tell he was getting loud, but he didn’t care. He wanted answers. “Why didn’t you just call us or tell us abut your condition? About Nasha? We would of helped! We _could_ have helped.”

“I _couldn’t_ okay? Not when I had millions ta repay.”

“ _Mil_ —!” Ford gripped his hair. “Is that why you never asked us for help? Because you had a _debt_ to repay?!”

“Uh **_yeah_**. Pa made very clear that night.”

“But you have a daughter Stanley! A child! Surly he would have been merciful and allowed you back—”

“HA! Fat chance! He would have rubbed it my face an’ slam the door on us! Ya know how he always is!”

Ford flinched. “Stubborn to the core that’s not so easily impressed and stuck on the old ways.”

“Exactly!” Stan shook, taking in a deep breath. “I couldn’t bring myself ta do that… ‘cause I was afraid of what he would do ta her. He wouldn’t want her around jus’ ‘cause she was a hybrid. He would of tossed her out!

“Ma would of fought for her to sta—”

“She can’t do anythin’ Ford.” Stan sighed sadly. “She couldn’t do anythin’ fer me… she tried.”

Ford blinked in surprise. “When?”

Stan stayed silent for a moment before looking at Ford. “The night after pa kicked me out. I was down at the far end of the beach, trying ta look fer anythin’ valuable an’ she came runnin’ down.”

)*(

_10 years ago_

_“STANLEY!”_

_Stan’s ears perked up, swiveling to the sound. He nearly burst into tears once he looked back. “MA?!”_

_Martha Pines wasted no time reaching out to her son, embracing him. Both son and mother continued to hug each other tightly._

_“Ma, what are ya doin’ here?” Stan asked, pulling away slightly to look at her._

_“Looking for you! Why else would I be here?”_

_Stan looked at the ground in shame. “Ta yell at me maybe? I did coast us a million dollars.”_

_“Heck with that! That’s no reason for you to be thrown out of the house!”_

_“But ma! Ford would have gone ta a great school! The millions he would have earned would have gotten us out of this deadbeat town.”_

_“True.” Martha sighed. “But it still doesn’t mean that a young boy your age should get the punishment for it! Not like this.” She pulled him into a tight hug. “You’re still too young to be out on your own.”_

_Stan smiled sadly, hugging his other back. “I’m a gargoyle ma. I can take care of myself.”_

_Martha sighed, brushing her talon through he son’s hair. “I’ll fix this. Just you wait.”_

)*(

“After that, she kept tryin’ ta change pa’s mind every day for almost a week. Course it never worked.” Stan shrugged, remembering each time his mother came back with a furious look on her face from another failed night.

Ford was quiet, recalling the days after Stan was kicked out how he could hear his parents argue as he tried to study. Their mother screaming at the top of her lungs and Filbrick stubborn as ever didn’t budge a bit. Their yelling lasted through till night, always ending with ma slamming the door and not returning till morning. He always wondered where she had gone on those days, and now he knew.

“She kept bringin’ food with her each night, so I wouldn’t starve. Didn’t have enough ta get my own back then.”

Ford shook his head. “She never allowed pa in their bedroom after that night. She kept it locked up and threatened that he would pay the full repair bill if he ever forced his way in.”

“He was always stingy with money.” Stan snorted.

Ford nodded in agreement. “And… then what happened? They stopped arguing one night.”

“She tried ta come along with me.” Stan face fell. “I didn’t want that fer her though.”

Ford eyes widened. “You left.”

Stan shrugged slightly. “It was the only thin’ I could do. I didn’t want ta drag her down with me.”

Ford understood. Stan never wanted to risk giving such a hard life for their mother. “And, after that you had Nasha?”

Stan shook his head. “Not till a month before the anniversary I was kicked out.”

Ford nodded, stealing himself for the question he was about to ask. “Stan… w-who is Nasha’s father?”


	11. Intruder

Stan’s body tensed.

Ford waited, waited for the answer of who had gotten inside his brother, who filled him with their seed and fathered his child. The one who he was going to hunt down after this whole mess was done, whose neck he would wrap his paws around and choke them to the point of death because they had left Stan venerable with a small child they had put in him for _ten years_ and they needed to pay.

“I don’t know.”

“WHAT?!”

“I don’t know. It was a lot of guys who got in me…” Stan looked to the side. “Most through… ‘forceful’ means.”

Ford’s hair bristled. His was right! Someone had forced themselves into Stan! “It had to be sphinx.” He said in hush tone. “It couldn’t have been anyone else.”

Stan fidgeted in the spot he stood, glad that they were so far down so Nasha didn’t hear them scream at each other. “Yeah, it’s mostly the case for hybrids to share some features of their parents. But I only had three do me.”

Well that shortened the list.

“Two of them I’m sure that one is the father, the last I can rule out.”

“Why?” Ford needed to know, he needed to know who would do such a thing to his brother.

“Cause I was more along nearin’ the end of my pregnancy when the last guy stuck his dick in me. An’ a weirdo too.”

“But what of the other two?”

Stan stayed silent for a moment. “… The first one… he was a college student.” Ford flinched a little. “Met him a month after I left. Stuck at a gas station in the rain an’ offered him a lift. He was a nice gut. Good lookin’ too I’ll admit. Thick dark mane, toned body, smart too. His roommate was out fer the week an’ offered me ta stay fer a while fer thanks.”

“And… you said yes.”

Stan shrugged. “He was nice an’ I was stupidly young ta think better so sure. He had this big test thin’ comin’ up so he was stressin’ out a lot an’ fer some reason a friend of his once told him that havin’ sex while studyin’ helped or somethin’ an’ well…”

“He… had sex with you.”

“A lot of it. He was surprisingly good fer his first time too. Anyway, he passed the test with flyin’ colors after the week an’ I left after that. ‘Bout nine days after, another sphinx got in me.” Stan looked at the wall. “Scrawny fella. Weak an’ bony. His feathers were ruffled up an’ his fur should have seen better days. Anyway, found me loungin’ ‘round behind a fence. It was somethin’ ‘bout his friends tessin’ him fer still bein’ a virgin or somehin’ but offered ta pay.”

“Wasn’t the best I ever had, but he paid so that was that.”

Ford felt a little sick after hearing all that, but now he knew two likely suspects. “Did you ever get back in contact with either of them after Nasha was born?”

“No.” Stan’s face hardened. “An’ I never will. I never want them near Nasha or have any clue ‘bout her!”

Ford blinked in surprise. “Why?”

“A lot of reasons, mostly ‘cause I’m not sure what they’ll do if Nasha turns out to be theirs.”

Ford nodded. At least he had some clue to who to look for.

“Shouldn’t we get started on the portal now?”

“Hm? Oh yes! Right!” Ford sheepishly smiled as they set to work on the portal.

)*(

Nasha was a patient little girl. She could wait for hours on end without moving.

Her daddy said it was because she was half gargoyle, and gargoyles were good at staying still for long hours at a time.

Didn’t mean she wouldn’t get bored.

All the pages in her coloring book was done, so now she had to wait for daddy and Uncle Ford to come back.

The circle spell that Uncle Ford made for her was small.

Too small to lay around in.

Sighing, she waited for the door to the basement to open.

Uncle Ford had said that if most of the portal was gone today, they wouldn’t have to worry about the bad person trying to do something.

Which would be good.

She wanted to spend time with her daddy now that they were staying with Uncle Ford for a while.

She hoped.

Daddy was stubborn.

He didn’t like being a charity case.

She didn’t know why though.

He always put aside his own needs for hers first.

All the nice few thing he could get her spent away the money he got.

She just wished that he would take care of himself sometimes too.

It wasn’t fair that—

Cold senses.

Hairs bristling.

Eyes wide.

Body tense.

…

There was something was coming.

Something **bad**.

Nasha suddenly didn’t feel too safe in the circle.

It was out in the open, full in view for anyone to see her.

The door to the basement wasn’t far away.

She could get down to daddy if she ran now.

Getting on her feet, she left the circle, padding quickly towards the door.

And froze.

Slowly, she peeked behind herself.

A yellow gleaming eye stared back at her through the boards covering the window.

She bolted, throwing the door open and kicking it into high gear as she heard wood splintering behind her.

She ran down the steps, hurrying to the elevator and punched in the code, jumping up and down in worry as she waited.

“Come on. Come on!” Nasha willed for the doors to open up, for the elevator to hurry up so she would be in daddy’s protection.

“ ** _Ooooh yoooou hooo._** ”

Nasha’s blood ran cold.

She looked back up to the top steps of the stairs and nearly screamed.

The body was nothing but skin and bone.

Its head was a skull of an animal with branches growing out on its head.

Thin long fingers curled in a cruel manner that struck fear into her soul.

Daddy had told her stories about creature like that.

A wendigo.

With cruel yellow piercing eyes with cat like slits in them locked onto her.

“ ** _And where do you think YOU’RE going? I just came by to say Hhhhhhiiiiiiiiiiiiiii~._** ” Its maw opened, showing its long set of pointy teeth.

Nasha pressed her body to the doors, hoping to further the distance between her and the intruder.

The door dinged.

Nasha fell back in surprise as the doors opened.

Quickly as she could, she got up, pressing the button repeatedly to go down as the wendigo descended the steps three by three.

As its hooved feet touched the ground, the door began to close.

Once the wendigo was out of her sight, Nasha sighed in relief.

Only to scream as an arm broke through the door.

“ ** _Now that’s not very nice of you to run away~._** ”

Nasha pressed herself to the farthest wall as the wendigo pried the doors open.

She huddled in a corner, curling into a ball as the wendigo’s head poked through and looked down at her.

“ ** _Aaaaawwwwwe. The little kitty is so CUTE when she looks so scared._** ”

Nasha tried to scoot away as it reached in and grabbed her by the scruff of her neck, lifting her up with ease and bringing her close to the creatures face.

She could see her mortified expression reflected in the monsters eyes.

Tears began to run down her face.

“ ** _Well well well! You certainly have Sixer’s looks! I guess ugliness runs in the family huh?_** ”

“W-w-what to you want with me?!” Nasha cried, curling her limbs close to her body for protection.

“ ** _Nothing much really! I’m just gonna use you as a hostage till old six fingers fixes the portal._** ” It shrugged.

Something clicked in her mind once it had said that. “A… are you t-t-the bad person Uncle Ford talked about?”

“ ** _BIIIINGO! We have a winner here folks! What gave it away?_** ”

“No one knows about the portal except Uncle Ford, daddy, me, that one person who helped Uncle Ford build the portal, and the bad man who gave him the blueprints.” She swallowed. “You act just like a bad guy.”

“ ** _Hhmmm, you’re an observant one, aren’t cha? But what if I was Ford’s old helper?_** ”

Nasha shook her head, with some resistance from being held at the scruff none to gently. “Uncle Ford said he was a mage. You’re a wendigo.”

“ ** _Well for NOW I’m a wendigo. Couldn’t find anyone else dumber enough to make a simple deal but hey! For being nothing but bones, this guy sure is strong!_** ” The bad guy laughed as he turned around, heading towards the stairs.

“Where are you taking me?!”

“ ** _Oh someplace cold and far and isolated. This guy’s home is far enough away for old Sixer not to track down that easily AND far from any help if you even think about escaping._** ”

“My daddy will look for me. He always comes to rescue me!”

“ ** _Your ‘daddy’ is thirty feet below us kid._** ” The bad guy held her up to his face. “ ** _He won’t even know that you’re go—_** ”

The floor to the elevator burst open as something large, gray, and angry came flying out, tackling the wendigo from behind.

The bad guys grip loosened as the arm flung out, tossing Nasha a good distance as she rolled along the floor.

She came to a stop laying on her belly, a bit dazed but otherwise fine.

She looked up, smiling as her daddy wrestled with the wendigo on the floor.

He jumped off the monster, running on all fours towards her and stopped once he was with her, pushing her under him as he growled at the intruder as she curled up underneath him.

“ ** _KEEP YER FILTHY HANDS OFF MY DAUGHTER!_** ”


	12. Daddy to the rescue

When Nasha was born, she was all he had left of a family. He didn’t know who had put her inside him, and he didn’t care. He only saw her as a small spark of hope. His one true chance to be happy.

It was rocky for a couple of days after he left the hospital. He had to work on his skills of swiping food to fed his little girl and get everything he needed to care for her.

Every little thing that she did he remembered.

The first time she rolled over, her first word, taking her first steps, losing her first baby tooth. Every normal milestone she hit was met without flaw.

And he remembered the first time someone tried to put a knife in her.

He was charged for murdered on several accounts. Most blood on his hands were done with a purpose. To keep his one remaining family alive. Few had ever laid their hands on her, and even fewer ever lived to see another day, never the same again. Most of them were dead before the day ended.

They all knew the risks of a gargoyles power. They all knew that there was only ever a slim chance of escape. They knew the consequence if they tried.

Only few had wisely listened.

Out there in the open world, there were many dangers that threatened to take away his child. He had grown to know that leaving his kid alone too long only resulted in high chance for her to get hurt or worse.

It was almost a sixth sense sorta thing if he thought about it.

The feeling he got in the pit of his stomach when something was wrong, the tight pounding in his chest, and the sickly sinking feeling of his whole body felt like drowning.

He immediately dropped everything and ran to the elevator, tearing the doors open and ignoring Ford a he made his way up the shaft, breaking through the elevator’s floor and only took a small second to see Nasha in danger in a wendigo’s hand too close to its head and charged at it, tackling it to the ground.

He gave it a few good swings before jumping off it and raced towards his daughter, pushing her underneath him and growled threateningly at the intruder.

“ ** _KEEP YER FILTHY HANDS OFF MY DAUGHTER!_** ” Stan roared, eyes going red as the wendigo stood up.

It stared at him blankly for a moment. Its yellow eyes locked onto him.

“ ** _How did you know?_** ”

Stan growled lowly, crouching his body low to the ground, sandwiching Nasha between the ground and himself. “Bein’ a dad means ya have ta keep an eye out fer yer little ones.”

The wendigo snorted.

“ ** _Wow! You’ve really matured here Stanley! Take one for the team for responsibility!_** ”

“Daddy.” Nasha’s soft scared voice called out underneath him. “That’s the bad man. The one Uncle Ford talked about.”

If his eyes could get even redder. “ ** _Bill._** ”

“ ** _Well! Seems old Sixer told you about me eh?_** ” The wendigo, BILL, chuckled, taking a step towards them, movements of his joints slow as a zombie raising off the ground. “ ** _Fair enough. I wanted a more proper introduction last night, but you and little fuzzy minds are blocked for some reason._** ”

Stan growled, claws digging into the ground.

“He invaded our _minds_?” Nasha whispered, slight in awe but mostly in terror.

“ ** _Tried to._** ” Bill shrugged. “ ** _But I wasn’t able to._** ” He looked straight at Stan’s eyes. “ ** _I already know Sixer warned you about me, so how about this. You and Sixer fix the portal down there, and fuzzy there won’t come to any harm._** ”

“ **FAT CHANCE!** ” Stan roared, leaping up and tackling Bill down again.

Nasha kept a far distance as her father punched, kicked, bit, scratched and rolled around the ground, struggling to keep Bill from gaining the upper hand in this fight. Bill in turn meet Stan with full fury with his attacks, equally matched to the gargoyle’s strength. Neither side seemed to have a winning chance, not till a lion’s head poked through the hole in the elevator and saw the chaos.

Ford was at loss when Stanley had suddenly bolted, almost having a heart attack when he tore down the door to the elevator. He didn’t think twice as he climbed in after him, wanting to know what had set his twin off to do such a thing. The answer was not what he expected.

Stan was struggling against a wendigo. A WENDIGO! Of all things that could possibly be a threat, this was one of the dangers Ford never wanted to encounter in his own home. And Stan was fighting it! He didn’t need to think twice in why when he saw his niece nearby, cowering and battered.

Seeing her was enough for Ford to bare his fangs and growl. He too launched out of the hole and tackled the wendigo at its side when it had pinned down his brother, growling down at it with rage that it dared hurt his family.

Only for those eyes to look up at him.

“ ** _Well hoooowdy do Sixer!_** ”

Ford went cold with dread. “Bill…”

Bill took this moment of distraction to hit Ford across the face, sending him off him and turned his attention back onto his previous mission. He reached towards Nasha but was pulled back by a powerful tug, suddenly in the air before slamming down to the ground on his back.

Stan tightly gripped onto Bill’s legs as he spun him around, throwing him against the wall. He wasted no time jumping on him and throwing left hooks at him till Bill caught his arm, grinning cheekily and kicked Stan off. He stood up, deciding that Stan needed to stay down if he wanted his plan to stay on track, only to have a hard punch to the jaw.

Ford felt some satisfaction as Bill stumbled back from the punch, glad that Filbrick had done something right in enrolling them in boxing classes and took another swing at Bill’s puppet. He kept punching at Bill, making sure that they stayed far away from Nasha, when he saw moment in the corner of his eye.

He side stepped, allowing Stan to jump by him and tackling Bill to the ground and deliver a few of his own punches.

“That’s enough! Stanley! Enough!” Ford grabbed Stan’s shoulder, shaking it a bit when he noticed cracks forming in the wendigo’s skull. Bill may be in control, but it was still a being in there. “Stanley! STOP!”

Stan froze in mid throw, looking back at Ford with angry eyes.

“It’s fine now Stanley. He’s too weak to move now.”

Stan looked down at Bill. Large cracks had formed in the skull, almost caving in where Stan had punched him. With a huff, Stan lowered his fist… and gave one final punch with his other arm.

Bill let out a groan of pain. He hadn’t realized how powerful Stan was till he got the end deal of it.

Ford knelled down beside Bill’s head, glaring at him as Stan went to check on Nasha. “Not feeling so might now huh?”

“ ** _Thib bonny iths weak._** ” Bill mumbled in pain.

Ford glared harder. “That’s what you get for trying to sneak in here. And why in this body? Wouldn’t it have easier to take me over instead?”

Bill didn’t answer, only glaring at Ford with one good eye.

“So this is Bill huh?” Stan came up, holding his daughter close in his arms. “He doesn’t look dangerous.”

“That’s because this isn’t Bill true form Stanley. He possessed this wendigo to get in here.”

Stan looked at Ford with an unreadable face. “So yer sayin’ he’s still out there?” He tightened his grip on Nasha.

“No, not at the moment right now, but he’s still a dangerous threat.”

“He tried to kidnap me!”

Both twins looked at Nasha in shock. One in surprise and the other in growing anger. “He did WHAT?!”

It didn’t take much realization for Ford to know what was about to happen next. “WAIT! Stanley Don—!”

Too late.

Stan had lifted one leg up, slamming his foot down on the wendigo’s head. A sickening crack echoed in the room, and all that was left of the creature’s head was broken bone and squashed muscles.

A wave of dizziness hit Ford. The sight alone was gruesome enough to lose his stomach.

Stan on the other hand wasn’t fazed by this old sight, taking his foot off the carcass and looked at Ford with danger in his eyes. “Stanford, tell me ya have a way fer me ta **_strangle_** that guy.”


	13. Pure of heart

The event had left the whole shack shaken.

Ford was mortified by the events that took place in his own home.

First Bill had broken in and tried to kidnap his young niece. Second was the gruesome scene that he witnessed. And now he had a dead body to deal with down there but couldn’t find the will or strength to do so.

Stupid! How could he have forgotten the threat Bill possessed? He almost lost Nasha to him! Stan almost lost his child to that monster! All because they were too focused on the portal to notice anything until it was almost too late!

He was a fool!

But what do they do now? They couldn’t work on the portal, Bill would only try to strike again. There was no telling what the demon was capable of!

His brain throbbed as he thought things over. This wasn’t how it was supposed to happen! Stan was just supposed to come, take the journal and leave! Not bring his kid, staying around longer than he had to and try to find some way to stop Bill!

“Daaaaaddy! Stop licking me!”

Ford looked up. Stan laid out on the floor of the living room, holding his daughter between his arms as he ran his tongue over her furry head. A calming method most parents used to ease small children of their worry. Though Nasha didn’t seem too happy about it.

Stan grunted, but otherwise continued to lick his daughter.

Nasha puffed. “Daaaddy! I’m too old for tongue baths!” She whined pitifully, trying to escape Stan’s hold on her.

“I’m almost done here.” Stan mumbled, pulling Nasha close to him.

“Uncle Fooooorrrrd! Help!”

Ford tensed at the look Stan shot him. “Uh, I-I’ll pass on this one Nasha.” He said, slightly disappointed with himself as Nasha whined. He felt her pain.

After Stan finished giving his daughter the tongue treatment, he handed her a notepad and some crayons to busy herself with, sitting down next to Ford on the couch as Nasha set to work drawing. Ford shifted in his seat, feeling uncomfortable so close to Stan after what he had witnessed him do minutes before. The blood was still on his foot. But what was most disturbing about this was the calm demeanor Nasha displayed after seeing what her father had just done.

What happened to them since the ten years he had last seen Stanley?

Nothing good.

Ford bit his lips. He had to know what happened to them. This couldn’t have been normal for them.

“Ya hadn’t answered my question.”

Ford jumped. Stan looked at him, eyes glazed over with no emotion inside them. “How do I kill him?”

He had a pretty good idea who he was talking about. “You can’t Stanley. He’s unkillable.”

“Not if I get my claws on him.”

“Stanley.” Hesitantly, Ford placed a paw on Stan shoulder. “… Bill… isn’t like us. He’s not made of flesh or stone. He’s a being of pure energy. Nothing will be able to hurt him.”

Stan tensed under his touch but he could see that he understood what Ford said, nodding slowly. “… Goddesses. Why’d ya have ta get mixed up in all this Ford?”

He didn’t know. Maybe in another universe he was smart enough to see through Bill’s lies. In another universe, he wouldn’t have let Filbrick kick Stan out. In another universe, he would have Stanley to himself, enjoying the life they were supposed to live before real life took it all away from them.

In another universe, maybe Nasha could be their child, raised with love and care like a normal kid. Shielded by the dangers and brought up to be a wonderful person.

In that universe, Ford wished it was true.

)*(

Noon passed by, yet all three Pines stay where they were.

The floor was covered in Nasha’s drawings, most just shapes or squiggly lines. Some she drew of creatures or buildings, most being depictions of Stan and Ford.

The two brothers had stayed sitting on the couch, watching Nasha draw as they couldn’t find it in themselves to do anything. Ford’s paw still rested on Stan’s shoulder. Ford didn’t even have the will or energy to move it.

Nasha looked up, brown eyes filled with emptiness of past actions. She stared at nothing, yet everything. She turned her head towards the brothers. “Is Bill going to come back?” Her voice was quiet and small, almost as if she was afraid Bill would appear if she said his name.

Ford flinched from the mention of the demon. He sighed, moving his paw off Stan’s shoulder, shaking his head. “I’m afraid so. There’s a big chance he’ll possess someone with more strength than the last host.”

Stan clenched his hands.

Nasha bit her lip. “Isn’t there any way we can stop him?”

“…” Was there any way to stop Bill? Any possible solution to this madness that could end it all? “No. There isn’t.”

“Rubbish.”

“It’s true Stanley. Bill is from another dimension, a ghost without weakness. He’ll just keep coming back until he gets what he wants.”

Nasha’s ears laid flat against her head. “Portal.”

Ford nodded. There was no way Bill would let this go so easily. The portal was his only means to get into their world, and he would stop at nothing to make sure it still functioned. Trying to take it apart at this point with that big of a threat hanging over them would never result in them finishing dismantling the portal.

“Can’t ya jus’ use a spell or somethin’? Anythin’?”

“No. I only have a few protection spells but they wouldn’t last against Bill.”

Nasha whimpered. “I didn’t like the circle.”

“Nasha…” Ford started, wanting to tell her that the protection spell would have kept her safe from Bill, would have made sure she was alright and that she didn’t have to worry so much to step out of it. But the more he thought about it, the more he realized how flawed it was. How scared and terrified a young girl her age must have felt when danger stared down at you in the one spot you were trapped in.

Stan snorted sharply. “Some protection spell those are. Why not jus’ make one that Bill proof’s the whole place? Maybe that will keep him out.”

Ford looked at Stan glumly. How he wished he could have the same outlook his brother had for this situation. To look for things in the big picture and take them out, switch them around and make something new out of it. To make the simplest answers out of a horribly long complicated question. There was no simple solution to this. They couldn’t just come up with a way to Bill proof the… shack…

Ford’s eyes slowly widened, looking down at the drawings. A picture of the shack sat his feet with all three Pines drawn sitting inside.

Bill proof the shack…

The gears in his mind turned, formulating a plan. One that was crazy enough to work. And taxing.

“Nasha. How would you like to see a real unicorn?”

)*(

“Unicorn! Unicorn! Unicorn! Unicorn! Unicorn-corn!” Nasha sang as she bounced up and down happily. They had made sure to bundle her up in warm clothes as she was still sick, but she happily didn’t care at the moment.

Stan kept an eye out as they trudged through the snow. He was happy to see Nasha ecstatic to meet a unicorn, even if they both should know that unicorns have been extinct for over hundreds of years now. “Ford, are we almost ta the place yet? I don’t want ta be out here longer than I have too.”

“We’re almost there Stanley. It’s just down here.” Ford led the way, hoping that this time would be different from the previous times he had been there. They soon came to a large snow covered clearing.

Stan looked around, frowning at the sight. “Wow. Mus’ be some type of _invisible_ unicorn breed huh?”

“It’s only like this because I haven’t done the summoning chant yet.” Ford took out the journal from his coat, flipping through the pages.

“Summonin’ what now?”

Ford chose to ignore Stan, finding the page that he needed and, mentally preparing for the teasing he would endure from Stanley later, began bellowing.

Stan stood dumbstruck once Ford began deeply chanting. He recovered quickly and fell into a fit of laughter, clutching his stomach as he laughed. However, he didn’t enjoy it too long as the ground suddenly started to shake. Thinking it was an earthquake, Stan quickly grabbed Nasha and held her tight, waiting for the quake to end.

He quickly learned it wasn’t an earthquake when a wall pushed out from the ground, raising above them. He stared at it, too shocked to speak.

Ford shut the book closed and turned to Stan. “Now, Stanley I really need you to be on your best behavior. Unicorns are very… difficult to handle. You can’t just say anything right at them and expect it to be okay. We really need some hair from them, so please, be on your BEST behavior. Same goes for you Nasha.”

“Okay!” Nasha happily chirped as Stan nodded his head slowly.

Ford nodded, turning around and pushed open the massive door. The warmth from the hidden garden hit him with a welcoming force, heating his cold body gradually. It hadn’t changed much the last time he was here, and, sadly for him, a familiar figure stood in the center of the garden.

“Celestabellabethabelle.”

Celestabellabethabelle tossed her head to the side, letting her rainbow color hair flow dramatically. “Stanford Pines.”

“Celes… bellab-what?!” Stan asked in confusion as Nasha stared at the unicorn with big sparkling eyes.

“So.” The unicorn locked her gaze onto Ford. “You’ve returned once again. Have you become…” She threw her head dramatically. “Pure of heart?”

Ford fidgeted nervously. “Well, I, uh hope so. We really need some hair from you. It’s an emergency.”

“Hmff! Only the PURE of heart can have ANY of my hair. Let’s see if you’ve become pure of heart.” Celestabellabethabelle lowered her horn, pointing it at Ford’s chest.

Ford steeled himself, waiting for the final verdict and hopeful that he would be given access to Celestabellabethabelle’s hair. His hope was dashed as Celestabellabethabelle threw back her head. “NOT PURE OF HEART!” Of course he wasn’t. All the things he had done clearly said it all.

“Whoa whoa whoa! Hold on here!” Ford snapped his head away from Celestabellabethabelle to Stan. “What’s goin’ on here? Kinda new here an’ yeah. Also have a big fan here.” He motioned to Nasha in his arms.

“Hi pretty unicorn.” Nasha waved, still sparkled eyed.

“Hello small child.” Celestabellabethabelle bowed her head. “Stanford. You didn’t tell me you brought guests.”

“They’re family.” Ford pointed out. “This is my twin, Stanley, and his daughter, Nasha.”

“Greetings!” Celestabellabethabelle held her head high. “I am Celestabellabethabelle! The last of my kind. Have you come to claim some of my hair as well?”

“Uh, well not really. She jus’ wanted ta meet ya.” Stan set Nasha down on the ground. She immediately went up to the unicorn’s legs, bouncing up and down with a big smile.

“You’re so pretty! None of the other creatures I’ve seen are as pretty as you are!”

“Well _of course_ not!” Celestabellabethabelle dramatically tossed her mane. “None is as beautiful as a unicorn! Even if I’m the last of them.”

“Yeah. Okay. So, would ya mind givin’ us some of yer hair? We’re kinda in a hurry here.”

“STANLEY!”

“How DARE you! Demanding such a thing! Only the PURE of heart can touch a unicorn’s hair!”

“Oh yeah?” Stan crossed his arms smugly. “So all I got ta do is be pure of heart? Sound’s easy enough.”

“Stanley!” Ford hissed. What was he doing?!

Celestabellabethabelle huffed. “It is NOT easy as you think GARGOYLE. The pure of heart is rare and few.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “And I most certainly can tell that YOU are not pure of heart.”

Stan shrugged. “Fair enough.”

Celestabellabethabelle huffed, then turned her attention to Nasha. “And what about you young one? Are you pure of heart?”

Nasha took a step back. “Me? Oh no.” She shook her head. “I’m not so sure I’m a good person.”

“Only a unicorn such as moi can tell if you are pure of heart or not.”

Nasha tilted her head. “Mmmmmmmmmm nope! I don’t believe you.”

Ford felt his jaw drop. Celestabellabethabelle stared at Nasha in shock. “E-EXCUSE ME?!”

“I don’t think you can really tell if someone’s pure or not.” Nasha shrugged. “Is that even a thing? Daddy always told me that people aren’t always what they say they are.”

“W-why such in—!”

“Daddy!” Nasha ran to her dad, wrapping her small arms around his leg. “Can we go see fairies next?”

“Oh? How come? You always wanted ta meet a unicorn.”

“I did! Buuuuut I might not be pure of heart. And we need some of Celestabellabethabelle’s hair.” Her eras laid flat on her head. “And I might not be pure of heart to get some. But maybe the fairies will give us something better than unicorn hair!”

Ford stared flabbergasted as Stan rubbed his chin in thought. “Well… alright! I’m sure Ford knows where ta find some fairies that can help us out here. Come on Ford.”

Stan grabbed Ford by the shoulder, tugging him along.

“Bye miss Celestabellabethabelle!” Nasha waved at the stunned unicorn. “It was nice meeting you!” She run after her family.

“Wha-?! W-wait!” The doors closed with a loud slam.

Ford blinked, looking back at the closed doors to hidden meadow. The meadow holding their key ingredient to their mission.

“WHAT THE GODDESSES WAS THAT?!” Ford yelled, pulling his arm out of Stan’s hold. “Do you realized what you’ve done?!”

“Uh, we just told a unicorn we didn’t need her hair after all?”

“You messed up our one chance at getting the most important crucial ingredient we need!”

“Oh come on! Did ya not notice the way she acted? Pure of heart. Pft. Yeah right. She couldn’t even _know_ if we were ‘pure of heart’. She’s a total hoax.”

Ford fumed. How DARE he! Stan had blown it off like it was nothing! Just like how he didn’t CARE about his chance to go to West Coast Tech!

“Daddy? Fairies?” Nasha tugged at Stan’s pant legs.

“Hm? Oh yeah. Fairies. Ya know where they are?”

Ford growled, ready to let out a full blown yelling spree at Stanley.

“ ** _HOLD IT!_** ”

Everyone looked back to the doors. Celestabellabethabelle stood there, glaring at them. “You’re Not Going To See ANY Fairies! Young Nasha! Please step forward!”

Nasha looked up at her father before going over to stand in front of Celestabellabethabelle. Celestabellabethabelle lowered her horn to Nasha’s chest, lighting in a blue glow. After a moment, Celestabellabethabelle eyes narrowed, looking at Nasha in the eyes. “You.”

Ford tensed.

“You.”

Stan shifted his feet.

“ _You._ ”

Nasha held her breath.

“ _You_ … **ARE PURE OF HEART!** ”

“REALLY?!” Nasha beamed brightly as Ford fell back in the snow in shock.

“Yes child. You are indeed pure of heart! You may have some of my mane as a reward and be honored to know that you are the first to ever be gifted with such a high honor!”

“Thank you Miss Celestabellabethabelle!”

Ford couldn’t believe their luck as Nasha took some hair from Celestabellabethabelle. She waved goodbye as the hidden meadow sank down and became hidden once more.

“Alright! Awesome work Nasha!” Stan scooped up his little girl, spinning around as he held her high.

“H-how? I. I don’t.” Ford fumbled, slowly getting up.

Stan took the hair from Nasha, holding it out to Ford. “Here.”

Ford looked at the hair, unbelieving that they managed to acquire such precious item. Wordlessly, he took the hair and quickly put it inside a bag, marveling at the sight.

“One down, many more ta go.” Stan smirk, putting Nasha on his shoulders and started to head off.

Ford quickly followed after them. “You’re lucky Nasha was able to obtain the most critical item we need, Stanley. Her pure heart saved us.”

“Yeah, well, I should probably tell ya that whole ‘pure of heart’ thing was a scam anyway.”

Ford stopped. “What?”

Stan turned around, winking at Ford. “She lied ‘bout lookin’ into people hearts an’ the whole pure an’ not pure thin’. There’s no _way_ she could tell if anyone was pure of heart or not!”

“But!” Ford looked at Nasha, who had a similar smile matching her father’s own smile. “B-but Nasha! She! Celestabellabethabelle!”

“I saw another unicorn in the meadow.” Nasha swung her legs.

“She obviously wasn’t the ‘last of her kind’ if there was ‘nother one Ford.”

Ford looked at them in shock, too stunned to speak.

“Though it worked out pretty well at the end there! I guess ya stole that hair fer nothin’ then sweetie.”

Nasha smiled, reaching into her coat and pulled out more unicorn hair.

“What?! How-When did she—?!”

“Yeah, kinda distracted Celawhatever fer her ta take a few snips. This was easily the best scam we ever pulled!” Stan held a hand up to his daughter, giving her a high five.

Ford couldn’t believe it. Stan and his child had stolen hair from a unicorn. A unicorn who LIED about seeing into people’s hearts. And they easily stole hair from her. Right under her very nose! “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree huh?” Ford smiled and, okay, he had to admit. That was some good thinking on their part.

“Sure doesn’t! But seriously Ford. How could ya fall fer that simple trick? You really didn’t think it was true right?”

Ford coughed into his paw, looking away embarrassed. “I… I honestly believed it was true.”

Stan laughed. “What, did ya go around doin’ good deeds ta make ya a better person too?”

When Ford didn’t answer, Stan’s mouth fell open. “NO WAY! You did didn’t you?!”

“L-Let’s continue on with our task alright?!” Ford marched ahead, fuming as Stan and Nasha followed after him, giggling.

“Uncle Ford is silly!”


	14. Past memories

Ford nearly collapsed as he stepped into his home. The day had been rough and things didn’t go according to plan, but they managed to obtain all the required items needed.

“What are we goin’ a do ‘bout yer door?” Stan examine the splintered wood where a doorknob once was.

Ford looked at it for a moment. “Leave it. Cover it. I really don’t care.”

“Yer seriously think I’m jus’ ganna leave it like that? Lettin’ the cold in? In this already cold ‘nough place with a sick kid?”

Ford glanced at Nasha. The poor girl was covered in a thin blanket of snow, blinking up at him in curiosity. “… I, should have something in here that could cover it up. Let me just put everything in kitchen and I can go find it for you.”

“Food?”

“And make a small snack for Nasha.”

“Fair ‘nough.” Stan shrugged, watching Ford and Nasha disappear into the other room.

Ford placed the items on the table, going through the items Stan had brought while he was out shopping. “How about a ham sandwich?” Ford pulled out a bag of fresh bread and some ham from the fridge.

Nasha nodded, sitting quietly at the table as Ford made her a snack. “Uncle Ford?”

“Yes Nasha?”

“What were you and daddy like when you were young?”

Ford froze. That’s right. Stan never talked about them did he? “W-well. We were the best of friends when we were young. Mostly inseparable and did everything together. We played with each other, went exploring together. We hardly ever did anything apart!” He frowned sadly. “… But… as we grew older, we started to… drift. I wanted to do stuff on my own and your father… he was only interested in one thing.”

“What was that?”

 _Sailing around the world. Having no future out in the open sea. Two of us against the world. To find a place where we belonged. To escape our worries and find adventure into the great—_ “A dream. He wanted to make a dream he had as a small child come true.”

“And did he?”

Ford was silent as he placed the plate down in front of Nasha. “… no. He didn’t.”

Nasha’s face fell. “Oh… what was his dream?”

“… I… I don’t remember anymore.”

“… okay.”

Ford inwardly sighed as Nasha took a bite out her sandwich. He hated lying like that, especially when it came to their old dream. He needed to find something to seal that hole.

)*(

“Alright, fingers cross.”

Stan crossed his fingers. Ford added the last bit of hair to the house, connecting the ends together with the other hair already glued to the house. It gave a soft glow once the ends connected and Ford let out a cry of joy as a barrier formed around the shack.

“Yes! It works! It works!”

“Why ta go bro!” Stan held out a fist, and Ford wasted no time bumping it with his own paw.

“Yeah! High six!”

The brothers froze, staring at each other. Stan looked at the fist Ford had bumped, staring at it wide eyed.

“… w… We should go in now.” Stan turned, heading for the door.

Ford stood stunned, watching his brother leave. He couldn’t believe he had said that. He and Stan hadn’t high sixed since… he couldn’t even remember! The wind picked up, sending a chill through Fords body, prompting him to go after Stan.

The inside wasn’t much better than the outside as they stepped in, but it was at least bearable to deal with than out there. Nasha waited for them on the couch, smiling brightly as her father came over and scooped her up in his arms and spun around a couple times.

“It works?” She asked Ford once they stopped spinning.

“Hopefully yes. Bill won’t be getting in anytime soon.” Ford hoped. He hadn’t tested it out yet but he didn’t want to give his niece any worry.

“Yaaaaay!” Nasha cheered.

“Come on. I’ll make us some late lunch.” Stan nodded towards the doorway, turning to head for the kitchen.

That’s when Ford noticed. The angle Stan turned to go. His wings opened and exposing.

“Stanley?”

Stan stopped in his tracks, looking back at Ford. “Hm?”

“Where did you get that cut?”

Stan froze. “… Uhhhhhhwwwhat cut? I don’t see no cut.”

“Of course you can’t _see_ it. The cut on your back.” Ford went over to Stan, moving his wings to the side and exposing the long deep cut on Stan’s right shoulder.

Ford frowned deeply. “Stanley, why didn’t you say anything?”

“It’s not that bad Ford. I’ve dealt with far worse thin’s than this.” Stan moved to pry Ford off, but hissed when Ford pressed a thumb in the wound.

“Stan, this is a VERY serious wound! Did… did you get this when we were running from the griffin?” When Stan stayed silent, that only confirmed Ford’s worries.

They had needed special stones that were required for the items needed to make the barrier. Stones that were only found in griffin territory. Ford had thought that it would be safe since most griffins went to different areas to wait out winter.

Most griffins.

Not all of them.

“It needs to be taken care of right now.”

Nasha looked at her father in concern. “Daddy’s hurt?”

“It’s only jus’ a minor cut sweetie. It’s nothin’ ta worry ‘bout.” Stan placed his daughter down. “Hey, can ya do us a favor?”

Nasha blinked up at him.

“Remember those ‘little men’ from earlier?”

Nasha’s eyes widened, and Ford could swear he saw stars twinkling in them.

“Why don’t you go lookin’ ‘round here an’ make sure there aren’t any more in this place?”

“OKAY!” Nasha took off laughing.

Once Nasha was out of sight, Stan turned to look at Ford, frowning. “Ya shouldn’t have said that.”

“Wh-?! Stanley this is—!”

“ _I know_.” Stan growled, pinching his nose. “Jus’… could ya **not** say anythin’ like that when Nasha’s ‘round? I don’t… I-I don’t like worryin’ her.”

Ford blinked. “Stan…”

“Look, let’s jus’… let’s jus’ get this fixed an’ done with already.” Stan sighed. “Got some med supplies. Should still be inside the kitchen.”

Ford nodded, following Stan to the kitchen. He made Stan sit down and searched through the bag till he found some medical supplies.

“I can’t believe you didn’t say anything about this.” Ford grumbled, setting to work. “It’s just like you to be this reckless.”

Stan shrugged. “Hey, if Nasha or you didn’t get hurt, it was worth it.”

“But you need to think about taking care of yourself too! If I hadn’t notice sooner, this wound would get worse over time!” Ford growled, applying disinfection to the wound.

“I’ve dealt with worse things Ford.” Stan grumbled, flinching from the ointment.

“Not with a cut this big.” Ford sighed, taking out a needle and threading it. “This might sting a bit.”

Stan huffed. He flinched as Ford pierced through his hide, but otherwise stayed still as Ford worked on closing the wound.

Ford made sure to be careful as he worked. Threading the needle through thick skin was no easy task. But the wound had to be taken care of or else it would get infected. Stan didn’t know the importance of this, as us—

“Heh. Heh heh.”

Ford paused in his work, gazing at Stan in confusion. “What’s so funny?”

Stan glanced back at him. “Remember when we were kids an’ I always had ta protect ya? How I got inta those fights ta keep you safe?”

Ford blinked. He did remember. Stan always stood up for him when he could stand up for himself. “Yes. I remember.”

“Heh. Ya always patched me up afterwards. Fussin’ over me an’ every little scrap I got.”

He did, didn’t he? Ford smiled fondly. Each time Stan had gotten hurt, he would worry over his twin until he had patched up every wound his body had. Every cut, every scrape, every bruise or chipped horn or claw. “I guess that’s how I’ve gotten so good at treating wounds over the years then.”

Stan chuckled. “Yeah. Thanks.”

“… You’re welcome.”

They lapsed into silence again, but this time with a lighter feeling in the air.

“ ** _AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH! You again?!_** ”

“ _LITTLE MEN!_ ”

“ ** _My Names Greg! Not Little Men!_** ”

“…”

“…”

“… Do they always come back?”

“Sadly they do.”


	15. Bonding

“ ** _Put me down! Put me down right now!_** ”

Nasha giggled, holding the little man upside down by the legs. “I never encountered little men before! You guys look _sooooo_ weird!”

“ ** _We are not weird!_** ” Greg looked to the two cowering gnomes in the corner. “ _GUYS!_ Help me out here!”

The two looked at each other before bolting, jumping out the closest window they could find.

“ ** _TRAITORS!_** ” Greg screamed, yelping in surprise as he was turned right-side up.

Nasha twisted the little man around in her hands, looking him over. “How come you guys are so small? Are you dwarfs or something?”

“No! This is the normal height all gnomes are!”

Nasha blinked, twisting Greg around to face her. “Gnomes?”

“Yeah. Gnomes. That’s what I am. Haven’t you ever heard of a gnome before?”

“… Yyyyyyeah. But only the fake ones. Daddy says that gnomes aren’t really real.”

“ ** _What?!_** You got to be _kidding_ me! Your dad _studied_ our kind for _years_! He’s the big believer of the supernatural! And telling me he **_doesn’t_** believe in real gnomes?!”

“… My… daddy didn’t study you.”

“Yes he did!”

“No. That was my uncle. My daddy is his brother, the gargoyle.”

Greg blinked, staring at her for a long moment. “… W-wait. Your dad is… the _gargoyle_?”

Nasha nodded.

“… huh. Sorry, it’s just… you kinda look like a sphinx so I just thought that old Stanford down there was your pops.”

“No. Just my uncle.”

“Well I guess that explains why you suddenly just appeared. Though.” Greg squinted his eyes at her. “It doesn’t explain why you guys suddenly decided to drop by for a family visit.”

“Uncle Ford asked for daddy’s help, so we came. Why are _you_ in Uncle Ford’s house?”

“Winter’s been pretty hard on us. Foods been scarce in the woods so we thought we could grab some grub here.”

“Why not just ask for it?”

Greg looked to the side. “Uh… your uncle really doesn’t like us too much. Not since we last met.”

“What happened?”

“You sure ask a lot of questions.”

“I’m a kid. I’m always curious.”

“Good point. Anyway, do you think you can let me down so I can be on my way? I’ve got a couple of traitors I need to knock some sense into.”

Nasha shrugged, getting up and went over to the window, placing Greg on the windowsill.

“See you later kid. Hopefully not too soon!” Greg jumped out the window. “I’M GOING TO **_KILL YOU TWO!_** ”

“Bye bye!”

)*(

“Alright, that should do it.” Ford pined the gauze down once he was done wrapping the wound. “Don’t try to strain yourself on this side. Any rough action and you might break the stich work.”

Stan grunted, flexing his muscles slowly. “So I guess this sets us back in takin’ that portal down huh?”

“Well, yes. But it doesn’t mean it’s going to stop us. You can’t do any heavy lifting for a while. But you can still help me take it apart.”

Stan sighed, putting his shirt back on. “Well, at least I’ll still be useful in somethin’.”

Ford frowned. “Stanley.”

“Daddy!” Nasha came in, going up to her father. “Daddy! The little men! They were gnomes! Gnomes daddy! Real gnomes!”

“Really? An’ I thought they were midgets!” Stan grinned, ruffling Nasha’s hair. “Any who, whose ready fer late lunch?”

“Me! Me! Meeee!” Nasha jumped up and down, making the other Pines laugh.

“Then I’ll get started then.” Stan stood up, getting ready to make lunch.

“Uncle Ford! Did you know that gnomes lived in the woods around your home?” Nasha asked as she climbed into a seat next to Ford.

“Very much so.” Ford smiled down at his niece. “In fact, there’s good number of creatures living here in Gravity Falls. Oddities and mysteries that are far to comprehend.”

“Tell me! Tell me tell me tell me pllllllllllease?”

“Nasha.” Stan sighed.

“No, it’s alright Stanley. I would love to share what I’ve learned here.” Ford smiled, taking the journal out from his coat. Stan rolled his eyes but said nothing as he continued making lunch for them. “It all started about six years ago, after I completed my final year at Backupsmore. I came here to Gravity Falls, pursuing the study of the anomalies and strange occurrences here in this little town.”

Nasha sat with her arms crossed, leaning her head on them as she listen to Ford as he recounted his years of studies in this small town. All the adventures, all the creatures and items he found and studied. Occasionally, Stan would make a comment here and there, and Nasha would ask a few questions, and Ford would respond back to Stan with his quirk or answer any question Nasha had.

The room felt a little warmer to Ford.

)*(

“Urp!”

“Nasha.”

“Excuse me.”

“Heh heh heh.”

“An’ what’s so funny ta you?”

Ford shrugged. “You. I never thought I would see the day that Stanley Pines would be so considerate of being courteous in civil manner.”

“Eh.” Stan shrugged. “Didn’t want my habits rubbin’ off on her.”

“You don’t say excuse me when you burp!”

“Sssssshhhhh.” Nasha giggled as Stan pushed her slowly under the table.

Ford rolled his eyes. “Well, I guess no that we’re all well rested, we can get back to the matter at hand.”

“… You’re going back down there?” Nasha asked as Ford got up.

“Yes, I’m afraid so. You can come with us if it makes you feel better.”

Nasha shook her head. “I don’t like it down there. But I don’t want to be alone up here.”

Stan gave Ford a knowing look. They both knew todays experience had shaken them all and they weren’t prepared to try that again anytime soon.

“… Hey, how ‘bout we work on it tomorrow? We did a lot of it today, so no one should be able ta get it workin’ again so soon.” Stan tipped Nasha’s head up to look at him. “How ‘bout we show yer uncle the album?”

“But Stan—”

“How ‘bout ya go get it fer us okay pumpkin? We’ll get comfy on the couch.” Stan picked his daughter up and set her down, making her giggle as he scooted her forward a bit.

“Okay daddy!” Nasha took off before Ford could protest.

Ford sighed as Stan turned to look at him. “As much as I can agree with you on that statement Stanley, I suggest that we _completely_ dismantle the whole portal.”

“Look, I get that ya want the thin’ good an’ gone. I get it. But right now, I can’t do much of anythin’ cause of this.” Stan angled his body where the wound laid hidden under his shirt. “An’ I don’t want ta leave Nasha alone on her own fer a while. Plus we, still gatta do somethin’ ‘bout that body.”

Ford groaned, rubbing his face with his paw. He forgot about the body! “How could you do such a thing Stanley?”

Stan stayed silent, looking at Ford with a blank face. “… Ten years can really change ya ta do thin’s ya do like ta do Ford. Ya may not like it, but out there? That’s called survival.”

Ford looked stunned, watching Stan turn his back on him and leave the room. Mutely, he followed after his twin, going into the living room and having a seat next to him on the couch.

“I found it!” Nasha came in, holding a brown cased book and ran into her father’s opened arms.

Stan took the book, smiling at Ford. “Ready fer some pictures?”


	16. Phone call

Ford was genially surprised.

The album, only half as thick as his journal, was filed with pictures and small notes. Stan had opened the album, showing him the few set of pictures. Most being just pictures of a small infant Nasha.

“See this one?” Stan pointed at a picture of Nasha, laying on her back wearing a small frilled dress, looking at them with her large wide eyes, holding one of her legs up and biting on one of her mitten covered hand. “This one was taken the day after she opened her eyes fer the first time. One of the nurses snapped a photo of her. She really had a thing fer takin’ pictures of newborns”

“How old is she in that one?”

“‘Round eight days old. Almost ‘round the time I left the hospital.” Stan flipped through some pages, stopping at one that made him smile. “This one I took after I caught someone playin’ in the mud.”

“ _Daaaadddyyyy_!” Nasha whined, hiding her face in her hands.

The picture showed little Nasha in her dipper, covered head to toe in mad, smiling widely with her arms up in the air. Right next to the photo, Stan had written ‘Nasha- 6 months old. Lil’ scampers first mud bath.’

Ford grinned. It was kinda cute seeing a photo of his niece acting so cute at a young age.

Stan turned the page, snorting. “An’ here we have miss grump havin’ the after event bath.”

The picture showed Nasha again, who looked **_very_** unhappy, sitting in a sink with bubbles surrounding her. Ford couldn’t help but give a little snort of amusement.

“Uncle Foooorrrrd!”

“What? You look adorable in that photo Nasha.” Ford smiled as Nasha gave out a small whine of frustration.

“Heh! Yer a real cutie Nasha.” Stan laughed, patting his daughter on the head.

“Oh yeah?!” Nasha flipped through the pages till she found what she was looking for. “Look at this Uncle Ford!”

Ford looked at the photo Nasha pointed at and then promptly burst out laughing. The photo showed Stan, fast asleep, wearing makeup all over his face. Poorly done makeup that looked like it had been done by a two year olds hand work.

“I did that!” Nasha proudly proclaimed as Stan’s face went red.

Ford continued to laugh. He wondered if there were any more pictures that held embarrassing memories of his brother.

“L-let’s move on okay?” Stan quickly turned the page, going into detail on each one. Ford soon calmed down enough to be indulged in Stan’s photos, looking them over on what he had missed and what Stan and his child had experienced over the years. He asked about a few of them, enjoying the tale as the two recounted the memory.

But as they went further into the book, Ford noticed something. The more they went along, the more Ford noticed how Nasha varied for age to age in each photo. In one picture she was younger, and in the next she was much older. And looked… sadder.

Ford frowned. Stan had said that things weren’t easy for them out there, didn’t he? He had no help from anyone raising Nasha. Or have a suitable home for the girl.

Stan looked at him and frowned. “What’s the matter Ford?”

Ford shook his head. “I should have helped.” He took a deep breath. Stan blinked at him curiously. “I should have… I could have helped you. You and Nasha. You…” He sighed. “You didn’t deserved to go through all those years out there.”

Stan stared at Ford mutely. “… It… it’s fine Ford. It…” He looked away, pulling Nasha close to him. “It… it wasn’t all bad.”

Ford looked at the two. He frowned sadly as he thought of how things would have been better if they didn’t live out on the street and lived with him instead.

)*(

Ford hadn’t realized that he had dozed off.

Not until he was awoken by the phone repeatedly ringing.

Ford groaned, sitting up and rubbing the sleep out from his eyes. Sluggishly, he got up from the couch, heading to the hallway where the noise was coming from. He fumbled around a bit till his paw connected to the phone, taking it off the receiver and held it up to his ear.

“Mmmm hello?”

“ _Stanford?_ ”

Ford yawned, nodding his head before realizing the person couldn’t see him. “Yes, this is Stanford speaking. Who is this?”

“ _Who is this? Stanford Flibrick Pines! Don’t tell me you forgot about me!_ ”

Ford’s eyes widen, his sleepiness was suddenly gone. “Ma?”

“ _Who else?_ ”

“Ma, what are you-why are you calling?”

“ _Why am **I** calling? Why aren’t **you** calling? It’s been **weeks** since you last called and you think I wouldn’t notice?!_ ”

Ford flinched. “I… I’ve been busy—”

“ _Don’t you dare try to say excuses young man! You can put a hold on your science junk for a few minutes to talk with your mother!_ ”

Ford’s ears flattened. He’d forgotten how scary their mother sounded. Even from the great distance between them, he still felt fear of the harpy from here. “R-right… sorry ma…”

“ _…_ ” There was a small pause at her end before a sigh came through. “ _I’m sorry Ford, it’s just… things haven’t been going alright over here._ ”

“… Its… its dad, isn’t it?”

“ _Yeah. Yer father has been… aggressive lately._ ”

“He didn’t hurt you did he?”

“ _No I’m fine, thank the Goddess. But… Stanford, I think this is the last straw for me._ ”

Ford sighed, slumping against the wall. “You’re going to go through with it?”

“ _After what he’s done over these years, I’m surprised I hadn’t done it sooner. I **should** have done it sooner. After he kicked Stan out I—_ ” She gone quiet for a moment. “ _Sorry, I… I know how you feel about that night._ ”

Ford looked to the ground. “I honestly don’t know what to feel about that night anymore.”

“ _Ford, listen. I know how much you resent yer brother for what he did, but you can’t just avoid him forever. He’s your brother. Your own twin for the love of the sun!_ ”

“I know.”

“ _But **please** try to find some compassion in you and at least try to reach out to your brother. I… I-I haven’t heard from him in **years**. He hasn’t used my phone line in work or sent me any clue to how he’s doing. I don’t know if he’s safe or alive or if he’s starving out there all alone—!_ ”

“Mom, mom, calm down okay? It’s alright.”

“ ** _Don’t tell me it’s alright mister! My baby is out there on his own in that cruel world! He’s probably dying out there starving or worse!_** ”

“No he’s not.”

“ ** _YOU DON’T KNOW THAT!_** ”

“Yes I do ma. Stan is—” Ford covered his mouth.

“ _Stan’s what?_ ”

Ford bit his lips.

“ _Ford what do you mean? Ford?_ ”

Ford tried to think of an easy lie, but knowing who Stan inherited his prevarication from, he sighed and gave in. “Stan’s here.”

“ _What? What do you mean Stan’s here?_ ”

“I mean, Stan’s _here_. In my home. Sleeping on my couch.”

There was silence over the phone.

“Mom?”

“ _Tell me you’re joking._ ”

Ford blinked in surprise. “What?”

“ _This… Ford this is… this is no time t-to be joking here._ ”

“I’m not joking ma. Stan’s been staying at my home for a while now.”

It was silent over at his mother’s end, but when he listened harder, he heard faint sobs.

“ _Is this true?_ ”

“Yes. I got in contact with Stanley a few days ago and now he’s here.”

“ _Please tell me you’re not lying._ ”

“I’m not lying. You would know if I am.”

Ford listened as his mother broke into silent sobs over the phone, smiling softly.

“ _Oh G-Goddesses Stanley. M-My little fr-free spirit. Is he alright?_ ”

“He’s fine ma. He’s asleep right now. But he’s fine.”

“ _Oh thank goodness! Oh thank the Goddesses! Oh! Oho… I… I’m coming over._ ”

“What?!”

“ _You heard me Stanford. I’m coming over. I need to see my baby. I need to see Stanley!_ ”

“N-no! No. Ma, listen. I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“ _You can’t tell me what to do Stanford! I need to see my baby and I’m going to see him!_ ”

“B-but, but what about what you’re dealing with right now?”

“ _That can wait. Stan come first._ ”

Ford sighed, rubbing his paw over his face. “No, I mean… Stan might bolt.”

“ _… what?_ ”

“Stan might try to run away if you come here. He’s only staying here now because he’s helping me with something and the weather over here. He’s on edge right now and I don’t want to startle him.” And the fact that he has a child to worry about. “Look, how about you get everything on your side dealt with first and then maybe you can come visit?”

“ _Ford. I’ve waited ten **years** to see him again. Don’t make me wait any longer. Please._ ”

“Ma… Look, just a little longer okay? I promise you you won’t be disappointed. Just, giving me time to try to get him to stay. Just a few days and you’ll see him again.”

“ _…_ ”

“I promise he’ll still be here when you come.”

“ _…_ ” There was a sigh. “ _Alright. Alright. Fine! I’ll… I’ll get things wrapped up around here. YOU make sure that your brother is there when I come. If not, you’re in for an ear load mister._ ”

“I’ll make sure to keep my end. Just… be careful over there, okay?”

There was soft motherly chuckles. “ _Don’t worry Ford. I can handle myself._ ”

“… That’s what worries me.”

“ _I’ll call when things are done over here._ ”

“I’ll be waiting… goodbye ma.”

“ _Goodbye Stanford. I’ll try to have everything wrapped up over here. And, Ford?_ ”

“Yes?”

“ _Tell Stanley I still love him._ ”

Ford’s heart clenched. “Of course. Goodbye.” With a heavy heart, Ford placed the phone down, ending the called. He sighed heavily, sliding to the ground and shaking his head. He knew it would resort to that. The last time he had seen them, it was painfully obvious. He didn’t want to admit it, he didn’t want to believe it. But it seemed now it only confirmed his fear.

“Uncle Ford?”

Ford looked up. “Nasha.”

Nasha stood in the doorway, looking at Ford with sadness.

Nether spoke as they stared at each other.

Nasha then walked over to him, climbing into his lip and curled against him. Ford looked at her bewildered before relaxing, wrapping his arms around her and hugging her.

He didn’t need to tell her what was happening. He had a feeling she already knew.


	17. 10 years ago

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING.
> 
> Description of child birth in this chapter. If uncomfortable, please do not read. Thank you.

**_10 years ago_ **

_There was a massive understatement to how Stan felt incredibly uncomfortable at the moment._

_He whimpered, trying to find a comfortable position to sleep in. But his body wouldn’t relax and he felt odd. The back seat of his chair was uncomfortable sure, but Stan had slept on it so many times, he knew how to get comfortable in the small space. Now however, he just felt **wrong**._

_He sighed and gave up trying to sleep, laying down on his back and stared up at the ceiling of his car. He had parked off the driveway on a small beach. Hoping to get some sleep tonight before heading off and trying to find a job in the next town. The scrawny sphinx’s money was his last reserved, and he didn’t want to waste it so soon._

_Stan closed his eyes, listening to the rain hitting against his car, and tried to relax, taking deep breaths to calm himself. It was almost a year since he had been kicked out, just a month before the deadline for the first year he had been out on his own._

_And he still didn’t have enough to barely call a million._

_He let out a small whimper, draping a hand over his middle where the odd feeling was coming from. He_ reeeeally _hoped that he didn’t catch any serious illness or something. He didn’t want to wind up in a hospital just so they could probe him or cut him open. And pay the bills for it. Hospitals cost a fortune._

_Lighting flashed across the sky, making Stan jump a bit. With a groan he sat up, sighing in defeat. He was tired, hungry, scared, lonely, and worst of all, he felt useless beyond compare. Just eleven months since he had been kicked out, and now finally admitted that there was no way he could ever make up for what he did._

_He had no future._

_He had no home._

_He had no life._

_And he had no family._

_He called ma once in a while when he could just to reassure her that he was still alive. But other than that, he knew he could never have the chance to face his family again._

_He had… nothing._

_With a dejected acceptance, Stan stood up and began to crawl to the front seat, figuring that he could at least try to make it to the next town to find a job._

_And then he felt wet._

_Stan froze, gripping the front seats with one leg up to step over. He looked down at himself._

_There was a growing wet stain on his pants, dripping liquid on the floor. The smell hit Stan’s nose hard enough to make him gag._

_And then there was **PAIN.**_

_The air was literally knocked out of him as he fell to his knees on the floor, suddenly feeling that he was being pulled under and couldn’t breathe with a heavy feeling on his chest. His grip on the seats ripped, crushing under his strength that freed the cotton filling inside the leather sink._

_The pain subsided a bit, giving Stan the chance to gasp for air, heaving for oxygen. Okay, now he was getting a little worried. Trying to stand up, Stan grunted with pain from his movements, sighing as he sat back down on the back seats. With a few deep breaths, he looked down again._

_The spot had grown large, and the liquid was pilling up in a small puddle around his feet. And now Stan was sure it wasn’t the type of liquid he thought it was cause it smelled **way** more awful and kept coming and his pants felt too tight and he needed them off like right NOW!_

_Quickly as he could, Stan started to pull his pants off, holding back whimpers of pain as he did the slow process. He was half way out of them when the pain happened again, and this time Stan held his breath, bearing down the pain and hoping it would pass soon because GODDESSES did this hurt!_

_Once it was bearable to move again, he pulled the garments off his legs, tossing aside and tried to look at the damage. The liquid wasn’t coming from his dick, that was for sure. So, was it coming from his ass or something? He reached down there and fumbled around. What he found made his heart stop. It wasn’t coming from his ass._

_It was coming from his false womb._

_“WHAT THE—?!” Stan cried out before another wave of pain over took him. Whimpering, he slowly registered that there was something trying to come out of him. Something coming out from his false womb. Trying to take a few breathes of air, Stan grunted, pushing down on the pain. He cried out as something **moved** from inside him, stretching his hole. But it felt **wrong** sitting up._

_He tried moving into a better position when the pain subsided a bit, crawling to the ground and laid on his side. He whimpered as he held his stomach, praying to the Goddesses above that he would live through this. Lifting one leg up and placing it on the back seat, Stan readied himself, gulping down air and held it as the upcoming pain began again._

_Stan didn’t know how long he had been pushing, nor did he remember every detail as the pain kept coming and he kept pushing. He had checked at one point, reaching down there and cried out when he felt **something** that wasn’t him poking out of him. Hot tears rolled down his face. Oh dear GODDESSES! What was that?!_

_He didn’t know. But what he did know was that his body was trying to push it out of him. And he had to get it out of him because it felt so_ **wrong** _being inside him. Crying in pain, Stan worked himself to try and push out this strange thing from him._

_His hands dug into the flooring. His feet gripped whatever they could hold onto and bent the framework under his talons. One of his wings folded and unfolded, twitching in pain. His tail wrapped around the leg that was propped up on the seats, constricting the limb. Outside the world kept turning. The rain kept coming down. Lighting flashed across the sky as Stanley Pines let out a loud, terrifying roar of pain and despair as he gave one final push._

_And then, something slid out of his false womb and it was all over._

_Stan cried in relief. The pain was still there, but not as intense as before. His body ached and his lower section was sore and he was drenched in sweat. But it was over. He could finally get some rest._

_One of his ears twitched._

_Or not._

_Something was crying. Soft and high pitched._

_And close by._

_Somehow, Stan slowly lifted himself into a sitting position, looking down between his legs and gasped, covering his mouth in shock._

_On the floor covered in liquids and blood was a tiny newborn cub. A sphinx cub. The umbilical cord was still connecting the both of them together and Stan wouldn’t have believed it but there was a cub there and he was still feeling the pain from the whole ordeal and the cord was coming from his false womb hole which still connected them and and and and and and and and—_

_His mind was blank. His body felt numb. The baby, oh Goddesses the baby, A BABY, was still crying, wiggling around on the floor in dirty liquids and blood and that can’t be good for them and it must be cold and Stan couldn’t feel himself as he moved and carefully scooped up the cub and brought it to his chest and stared at it because WOW he just gave birth to a small sphinx!_

_It settled in the crook in his arm, rubbing his thumb over its cheek and he could tell by this point of view it was a girl and he had given birth and wow did he feel tired right now and and and and and and and and and and—_

_“I’m… s-so… sorry…” Stan mumbled quietly, slumping against the door as his vision went black._

_)*(_

_“The good news is that you and your child are doing just fine. However, due to the concerns of the situation you were found in, we would like to keep you here for a while to make sure there’s no problems with ether of you.”_

_Stan numbly nodded, too tired to care at this point. The bed he was laid out on was nice and soft and his clothes were replaced by a hospital garnet. The little cub was laying on his chest, sporting a dipper on her now and he was glad they cleaned her up because he could see the white silvery color of her fur and it was beautiful and she was just so small compared to his hand and—_

_“Why are we still connected?” Stan gazed at umbilical cord that was still connecting them._

_“Don’t be alarmed mister Pines. This is normal.” The Arachne nurse smiled at him, looking over her clipboard. “The placenta inside you is still connected to the wall inside you. It’ll be about two to three days before it detaches. And studies have shown that newborns born from a gargoyle still receive nutrition from the placenta. Hence why your daughter hasn’t been crying so much.”_

_Daughter. Wow. It felt weird hearing that._

_“Is there anything else you would like to know?”_

_“Uh, yeah. H-how much is this goin’ ta cost us?” Stan dreaded to hear the answer, the weight of the millions he still owed hovered over him._

_“Nothing.”_

_Stan stared at the spider lady. “What?”_

_“The person who found you and called us already paid for everything. He even paid in advanced of your stay here and for anything that your daughter may need. He left after we told him that you were both stable.”_

_Okay. Odd. But. “Was it someone I knew?”_

_The nurse shook her head. “Wouldn’t say. Anyway, would you like to tell me what name you’re going to give your little girl?”_

_Stan blinked, looking down at the baby. She was so small, tiny compared to any other newborn Stan had seen. The doctors had said that since he had little ways of getting food, she came out much smaller than normal expectations. Maybe that was why he didn’t catch on quicker to his condition since his midsection barely had a baby bump._

_He knew he couldn’t give her a proper life with what he had right now and the best chance that she had would be to give her up and send her to a family that would take care of her. One that would love her and give her what she needs and take good care of her and—_

_Heck with it._

_He was keeping her._

_Stan looked out the window. It was still raining out. “How ‘bout… Nasha?” Stan smiled as he looked at his little girl. “Yeah, Nasha M. Pines.”_

_The baby, Nasha, puffed, snuggling into Stan’s chest as he held her close to him, smiling sweetly cause now he finally had a family. Small and started out with a shaky start but he finally had someone to relate to._

_“Nasha M. Pines. Alright! I’ll leave you two to bond then. If you need anything, just press the buzzer next to the bed. We’ll check on you later.” The nurse bowed her head and left them to bond with each other and Stan couldn’t be happier._

_“Hey there sweetie.” He cooed, rubbing his thumb over her head. “I’m yer daddy.” Stan chuckled, letting a few tears slip out as his daughter slept on without worry._

)*(

**Present**

Stan smiled fondly at the photo. He and Nasha were both fast asleep, covered by a blanket after one of the hospital staff found them like that and snapped a photo of them.

He really didn’t mind that they did that. He was honestly glad that they did. It reminded him of the day Nasha was born and how his life changed. He looked to his side, smiling at his little girl as she slept soundly against him.

Ford was also asleep, snoring loudly with his head against Stan’s shoulder, drooling a bit. He looked kinda cute to Stan like this. Stan chuckled, closing the book and leaned back. The day had been tiring and he was happy to get some shuteye after today.

Closing his eyes, he settled in, enjoying the warmth of family around him.


	18. Conections

Nasha had fallen asleep in his arms.

Which was good he guessed. Young kids her age needed sleep, right? Maybe.

Ford carefully maneuvered them as he stood up, being careful not to wake the small cub in his arms. He went into the living room, placing Nasha against Stanley and covered them with a nearby tarp covering one of his studies.

Ford never really did understand why he had brought the old Aztec stone calendar here in the first place. There was really no point of it, no matter how many times he looked it over. It was just another useless thing that gathered dust in one part of the room.

Just like everything else in here.

Ford looked at every item he collected over the past six years. All the items and creatures he never got around to study again and left behind to collect dust and drift into a forgotten memory. He had so many items, yet he felt so empty and distant to everything.

And what did Stan have?

Little to nothing.

He only had his child, a bag that held more pain than its worth, and a small album. A small album filled with good and bad memories Stan and his daughter had made together.

Ford looked at the small book. It poked out from under the cover of the trap, laid against Stan’s leg. Without second thought, Ford took the book, making his way out to the hallway and stepped outside to the back entrance.

The cold hit his skin, chilling his fur and bones. He sat down on the steps, opening the small album again and looked through its contents. There was a picture of Stan with a tiny Nasha holding onto his head, both smiling happily as a firework went off behind them.

Stan’s handwriting was next to it. ‘New Years Eve, 1976’

Below it was a picture of Nasha, eating a small cupcake with crumbs all over her muzzle with a party hat on her head. ‘Nasha eating her second birthday cake.’

Another picture showed Nasha staring intently at a goat through a fence. ‘Took Nasha to a small zoo today. Think she enjoyed it a bit. She really seemed to like the goats the best and kept bleating like one hours after we left. I hate goats and I hope to never seen one again.’

Ford chuckled a bit. Almost every single photo held a picture of Nasha. What she was doing, what she achieved, and just plain pictures of her being cute. He could tell Stan had devoted much of his time caring for Nasha. Spending all his time for his small girl just to make her happy.

He flipped the book to the first page, looking down at the photo of a teenage Stanley sleeping on a hospital bed with a newborn Nasha sleeping next to him. Their first photo together, and already Ford could tell that they were inseparable. Stan was even holding her small tiny paw in his hand.

He smiled fondly. He wished he had been there. Helping Stan in his most dire need of help, being there for him at his lowest.

_You shouldn’t have let Filbrick kick him out._

He really should have done something that night. Sure he was mad and there was no reasoning with that monster, but Stan didn’t deserve to be kicked out all alone on his own.

Ford sighed heavily, clutching the book tightly. He had missed so much, so many many things he could have done if he had just let go of that old stupid grudge. He missed his brother. He admitted that there were times Stanley crossed his mind and he wonder how his twin was doing, but he always dismissed it, thinking that he was alright and didn’t need Ford’s help at all.

And he was so wrong about it. His brother was alone, having to take care of a small girl, with no help, no money, and no home. It made his gut twist at the thought of the two other sphinxes. One of them was responsible for putting his brother through all that. One of them was Nasha’s father.

And one would live. And the other dead.

He just needed a small clue to who it was.

His eyes wandered to the inside cover, raising an eyebrow. Taking one claw, he made an incision in the thin sheet, carefully cutting close to the edge. Once done, he peeled back the cover.

Inside was a folded piece of paper.

Curious, Ford took the paper out, setting the album aside and unfolded the paper. To his surprise, it was a medical report.

_Patient # 5602_

_Stanley Pines_

_Species: Gargoyle_

_Age: 19_

_Sex: Male_

_Year 1973, Date May, Day 14_

_Patient was found by a local in a car parked off to the side of the road on a small secluded beach. Stan Pines had been found in estimated time of forty minutes, found unconscious after delivering his child in the world. Due to blood loss, patient was unresponsive to any forms of response and was quickly taken to the hospital._

_Both child and patient are stable and are under close monitor care for anything that might happen. Mister Pines refuses any contact to reach out to other family, and denies giving any explanation._

_Two days after, Mister Pines delivered the_ _placenta, fully separating him and his child from each other. On note, Mister Pines has a strong parental instinct with his child, notably distressed when separated for a short time and will not relax until reunited. Also note that Mister Pines does not want many others holding or being near his child and will resort to violence if felt threatened._

_Aside from all this, Stan has proven to be a good caretaker. Devoting all his time to his daughter and keeping her in best interests. Has shown to allow few selected staff to hold her for examination for development check and allowed them to check his health as well._

_However, there are some concerns._

_First being that despite developing in the full eleven month span of his pregnancy, the child had come out smaller than normal. Upon further investigation, Mister Pines had confirmed that he had few access to food supplies, not even realizing his condition earlier on because the hormones and symptoms were few and greatly distant. It must also be pointed out that the baby bump was noticeably small and not very noticeable, which also hindered any give away to his condition._

_After examining the child, some interesting features were found from close examination. The child appears to have six fingers and a unique combination of Gargoyle and Sphinx. When informing this to Mister Pines, he seemed very accepting to his daughter’s appearance until the mention of the six fingers was brought up. Stan openly began to cry, repeatedly saying Sixer over and over, never letting anyone close for the rest of the day after that._

_The next day, blood samples were taken from the young cub. A full diagnoses showed that it may have been possible that Nasha M. Pines had inherited her hexadactyly from the negative gene Mister Pines and the positive gene from the unknown father. Any in-or-tio- -f –e f----er i- ---_

The paper was being crumpled in his paws, his SIX fingered paws.

The air felt stale.

His eyes couldn’t believe what it had just read.

Nasha M. Pines had inherited her hexadactyly from both Mister Pines and the unknown father.

Nasha had inherited her hexadactyly from both Stan and the unknown father.

Nasha inherited her SIX FINGERS from STANLEY and the UNKNOWN FATHER.

GONE THROUGH THE WHOLE ELEVEN MONTH PREGNANCY—

MET ONE SPHINX AFTER A MONTH OF GETTING KICKED OUT—

ANOTHER NINE DAYS AFTER—

ONLY FIGURED OUT HE WAS PREGNANT ON THE FIRST YEAR AFTER SHE WAS BORN—

BORN MAY—

ELEVEN MONTHS—

UNKNOWN FATHER—

INHERITED FROM BOTH PARENTS—

SPHINX—

KICKED OUT A MONTH BEFORE SCHOOL ENDED—

“oh no…”


	19. the plan

It wasn’t _possible._

But maybe it was.

But it _couldn’t be!_

Then again there was a small chance.

There was _no way!_

This begged to differ.

 _This could be forged_!

It’s real. It’s very much real.

_He didn’t do **anything**!_

You were his first.

His first.

His first.

His first.

His first.

Ford sat staring at the medical report, looking it over and over again and again and again. When he added up the facts and knowledge, running through them in his brain to find any flaw and something else that could be there, he almost let out a wail of despair.

There was no denying it.

When he looked it over and put his knowledge together, it was clear beyond clear.

Nasha, born from his brother through means of an act that **_he_** had committed without his twin’s knowledge or acceptance, might be **_HIS_** child.

 ** _HIS_** child!

A child that **_he_** put into his brother!

On the first year he had been **_kicked out_**!

 ** _Impregnating_** him near the ending month that he was kicked out!

It couldn’t be the other two! Stan met them a **_MONTH_** after he was kicked out! If he had been **_impregnated_** in that month, Nasha would have been born on the month HE WAS **_KICKED OUT!_**

Ford’s stomach lurched. He held his middle in one paw and his muzzle in the other. He bent forward and retched the food from within him.

His breathing was heavy, agonizingly difficult to draw in air.

There was a chance she wasn’t. It was small, but it possibly could mean that she wasn’t.

“Doubtful.” Ford sighed heavily. Ten years ago, Ford had done an unforgivable act, an act that cost Stan so much in his years of banishment. An act of selfishness. An act gone on by reckless acting and unconcerned method.

Yes, he had rapped his brother. Yes, he had taken pleasure in it. Yes, he had thought about it crossing his mind a few times after he had done it.

But he didn’t ever think it would wind up with Stanley ACTUALLY getting pregnant and having his CHILD!

Ford looked at the door. The door that was between him and his family. HIS family. A family he and Stan made, though his brother never knew it.

His eyes widened.

Stan didn’t know.

He had no idea that Ford had been the one to impregnate him and gave him the hard burden of caring for their child alone without help.

“What am I going to do?” Ford moaned, holding his head in despair. How was he going to break this news to Stanley? He couldn’t just walk up to him, tell him that he had secretly had sex with him, causing him to be pregnant with their child which resulted to Nasha being born, and basically think to walk away without some bones in his body to be broken.

… and maybe have internal bleeding.

LOADS of internal bleeding.

No.

He needed to wait this out. He needed to have time to find some way of letting Stan know that he was the one who had put Nasha, THEIR **_CHILD_** , inside him. A way to explain it gently and careful enough for him to understand. Without winding up crippled for life in a hospital.

He could defiantly go without a permanent stay there.

_You can’t hide this forever._

“I can try. This time I know I can.” Ford reasoned with himself. “Stan doesn’t know. I’ll give this some time before I tell him.”

_The longer you wait, the more it will hurt._

“The better chance I have to make them stay.” Ford resolved, grabbing the album and sticking the report back in its place, heading inside to get out of the cold and think of a plan.

)*(

It took some planning, great effort to figure everything out bit by bit, but Ford had small plan of a plan.

First step was still getting rid of the portal. That needed to go pronto once Stan had healed enough. And get rid of the body at some point as well.

Second, money issues. He could get another grant loan from his collage, but it would take a while before it got here. Maybe he could get a job somewhere? Sell something of his? He was still working on that part of the plan.

Third, getting Stan and hi-Nasha to stay here and live with him. That one was probably going to be tricky. With Stan, it would take a **_lot_** of convincing to get him to stay here. Nasha would most likely be the easiest to deal with, but Stan was going to take some time.

Fourth, Bill.

A lump formed in Ford’s throat.

Bill was more than likely to get involved in this. More than he would like. The more he thought it over, the more he knew Bill was the biggest threat to his small family.

He couldn’t get in, but they could stay cooped up in here forever.

Bill needed to go.

Somehow.

Ford growled, sweeping the notes to one side and tried to think of a way to stop Bill from harming his family. If Bill got anywhere near them, he would do anything to make sure Ford got the message loud and clear that he wanted the portal opened or else.

And if Bill learned of this new information with Stan and Nasha…

It would be a horrible disaster.

So.

Portal.

Body.

Bill.

Money.

Stay.

That seemed easy enough.

But now he had to put it into action. Stan would still be unlikely to do anything, so maybe he could work on fixing the elevator first. It did get a little roughed up after Stan broke through the floor.

Okay.

Elevator.

Portal.

Body.

Bill.

Money.

Stay.

Got it.

Got it.

“Got it.” Ford stood up, carefully heading to the first lower floor to deal with the damaged elevator. It was the only means to getting down to the portal room anyway. Better to have it fixed now then later when—

_Rotting flesh._

Ford gagged, covering his nose. He only just opened the door and he could _smell_ the rotting body filling his senses.

Change of plans.

Body.

Elevator.

Portal.

Bill.

Money.

Stay.

Shutting the door, Ford searched around the shack, grabbing a body bag, an axe, and a shovel. Good thing he knew how to dispose of a body properly.

Don’t ask.

Keeping what was left in his stomach down, Ford quickly set to work on the body, chopping it up and stuffing it into the bag. He still felt a little gruesome with the memory of Stan stomping the poor creature’s head in, but what was done, was done.

Hefting the bag up and out the front door, he began thinking where the best spot would be to bury the body.

That’s when he spotted it.

In the distance in the trees. Getting closer and closer.

Ford squinted his eyes, trying to make out this figure. As it got closer, Ford could see that it was humanoid. It wasn’t a human, thank goodness. It was too tall to be one.

It was big.

It was white.

It was furry.

It had BIG muscles.

And it was getting too uncomfortably close to the shack for Ford’s taste.

Ford sent out a deep growl, a warning to this stranger that they were not welcomed to his home turf.

Once it came to the tree line, it stopped.

Ford glared at the intruder, a giant yeti, as it stood there with its face looking down.

The body could wait.

“I know it’s you.” Ford growled, gripping the shovel tightly in his paw.

The yeti stayed motionless for a while, then it looked up at Ford, giving him a disturbingly large mocking smile.

“ ** _Missed me?_** ”


	20. Confritation

“You’ve certainly picked something with more muscles this time.” Ford eyed the yeti. “What deal do you make to get this one?”

“ ** _This one? Pfft! This guy was MUCH more easy to possess than the other guy._** ” Bill lifted the yeti’s arms up, flexing them. “ ** _Now THIS I could get used too. Bigger. Better. And badder!_** ”

“That’s not even a real word.”

“ ** _Does it really matter at this point?_** ”

“No, I suppose not.” Ford pointed the shovel at Bill. “But let’s make one thing clear here. YOU are not welcomed here. Whatever you have planned won’t work. My brother and I—”

Bill laughed. “ ** _You’re brother doesn’t have his strength back after that run in with that griffin. You think he can take ME on in this body while he’s still recovering?_** ”

Ford’s fur bristled. “Did you have anything to do with that?”

“ ** _Maybe. Maybe not._** ” Bill shrugged.

Ford glared harder.

“ ** _Oh don’t such a sour puss! He’s a gargoyle! They have tough skin. You on the other hand._** ” Bill chuckled, stepping out of the forest. “ ** _Not so much._** ”

Ford readied himself as Bill came closer, posed and ready for a fight.

But that would not happen today.

Bill readied himself to lung, hoping to grab Ford and beat him down enough to take as a hostage, when suddenly he was forced back. Ford blinked at the barrier flickered, holding its shape before turning invisible again.

A smile crossed Ford’s muzzle. “I honestly didn’t think this would have been enough to stop you. Though I guess I was proven wrong.” Ford chuckled as Bill sat up, looking at the sphinx in bewilderment.

“ ** _Wha-? HOW?!_** ”

“It took some time to figure out the right components, but it was worth it in the end I guess.” Ford shrugged, picking the bag up and hung it over his shoulder.

“ ** _You can’t keep me out Sixer!_** ” Bill hollered, getting up and slammed against the barrier.

Ford walked over, marking where the barrier was as looked around. “Apparently, I _can_. Now, if will kindly excuse me. I have to bury your last puppet.” He looked around to find a suitable place to start working.

“ ** _And what do you plan to do? Stay in here forever? Yeah, that’s going to work out. Become a secluded far distant guy who never comes out of his shack because he’s just too scared of his problems to face them!_** ”

Ford ignored Bill, digging into the ground once he found a good spot.

“ ** _Or maybe you’re just content with the fact that you have your brother with you now. Keeping you safe like he did all those years ago when you couldn’t even stand up for him the night he got kicked out. Did you guys even talk about it now that you’re back together? Sharing stories from your years apart? Telling each other secrets and dreams like when you were kids?_** ”

Ford kept ignoring the demon, shoveling the dirt ground after clearing the snow away.

“ ** _Like that one important secret. About the identity of little puff ball’s father?_** ”

Ford froze.

“ ** _OH-HO! That got your attention! And let me tell ya! You_ REALLY _have some dirty thoughts for your brother! I mean, doing him in his sleep? Didn’t think that would come back to haunt ya did you?_** ”

“Shut up.”

“ ** _Oooooooohhhhhh~. Did I strike a nerve? Is the little kitty mad now? Well he’s not going to be as mad as Stan once he figures out WHO put little fuzzy in his belly in the first place._** ”

“She can’t be.” Ford’s grip on the handle tightened. “It’s possible that she isn’t.”

“ ** _Hate to break it to you Sixer, but you ARE the kid’s father. You put her in Stan, and he did the rest. And I’ll tell ya! I didn’t think this would get any better! Seeing her with half of your soul mixed with your brother’s was a real shocker! I mean, who would of thought, huh?! You weren’t to good with the ladies and just settled for the next best thing huh?_** ”

“Shut. Up.”

“ ** _What is it about your brother that you’re so attracted to? His looks? The way that he talks? His strength? His personality? The way his good at making friends when you weren’t? His loyalty to the family that abandoned him?_** ”

“Be quiet!”

“ ** _You can’t lie to me. I saw what you thought about him. Underneath all that resentment, you’re just puppy eyed for him! The nights you dreamed you were more than just brothers. Imagining yourself pinning him to the ground as you rutted yourself inside him. You even thought of raising kids with him in a little home. Well THAT PLAN TURNED OUT GREAT!_** ”

“I SAID SHUT UP!” Ford threw down the shovel, turning to face Bill. “You Have No Business Here! The Portal Is GONE! You Can’t GET IN! And We Know ALL Your TRICKS! Give Up ALREADY!”

Bill threw back his head and laughed. “ ** _I don’t think so. You think you can hide from me forever? You’ll slip up Sixer. And when you do—_** ”

Something flew past Ford’s head, slamming into the Bill possessed Yeti. Ford looked back to see Stan standing at the doorway with Nasha hiding behind his legs.

“ _You_ again? Really? Can’t anyone get some decent shut eye ‘round here without ya naggin’ all the time?” Stan huffed, stepping down in the snow and walked over to Ford.

“ ** _Ha ha! Pain is so funny!_** ” Bill laughed as he sat up, rubbing his chest. “ ** _But it’s good to see you again Stan! How’s little fuzzy doing?_** ”

“Oh ya mean beside the fact that ya scarred her fer life with fear? She’s great. She’s great. Now come over here so I can snap yer neck!”

“Stanley no!” Ford wrapped his arms around Stan. “Bill’s just possessing someone! You can’t kill him! You would only be killing an innocent life!”

“ ** _That’s right Stan. You wouldn’t want to keep adding more blood to your hands. You could go to jail and be separated from your little puff ball._** ”

Stan growled. “I’ve already been ta plenty of prisons over the last ten years. An’ none can keep me from protectin’ my little girl! Not you! Not the cops! Not anythin’! She’s the best thin’ that ever happened ta me!”

“ ** _Oh really? And what about her dad? The one who gave her to you?_** ”

Ford felt Stan flinch. His hair covered his eyes.

“… That monster.” Stan cracked his knuckles. “Can go.” He lifted his head, glaring red at Bill. “TA **_HEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLL!_** ”

Ford’s heart stopped as Bill laughed. His grip on his brother slackened. “Stanley…”

“ ** _Well I’ve got some news for you pal! I know who the father is!_** ”

Fords body went cold with his eyes wide. Bill wouldn’t!

“ ** _You see, it just so happens that—_** ”

Stan heard enough. He dashed at Bill, swinging back his arm and landed a blow on the yeti’s face, propelling him backwards at a great distance.

“Stanley!”

“Ah don’t worry Ford. I didn’t kill ‘em. Jus’ knocked ‘em out.” Stan huffed, walking towards the couch he had thrown earlier at Bill and picked it up. “Hopefully he’ll get the message this time an’ leave us alone now.”

Ford stared mutely at Stan as he passed, watching his body move and sway with each step. He couldn’t believe he luck. Stan had almost figured out about who had fathered Nasha in him, and he wasn’t sure how THAT would turn out.

“Oh, an’ uh, Ford?”

Ford froze.

“After yer done doin’ whatever it is yer doin’.” Stan glanced over his shoulder at him. “We need ta have a… talk.”


	21. The talk

If he had been honest with anyone back then, Ford wouldn’t have been able to hide the fact that he loved his twin brother. Not family love.

But LOVE loved his brother.

He couldn’t deny it. He had an attraction to his twin long before they were even teens. Before they even knew how cruel the world was outside their small town.

Ford couldn’t pinpoint when exactly he started having these feelings, but he knew that he did have them for his dear younger twin. Polar opposites attract each other, as their mother had once said. How appropriately right she had been.

While Ford exceeded in the brain factor, Stan made up with his brawn. Ford was weird, Stan was normal. Where Ford liked the sunshine and warm weather, Stan liked to prowl in the dark cover of the cold night. Ford slept while Stan roamed in the night, and Stan slept while Ford worked in the day.

Ford was flesh, Stan was stone.

Ford had feathers, Stan had skin.

Ford was powered by the sun, Stan was guided by the moon.

Ford was loved because he was a sphinx, Stan was shunned because he was a gargoyle.

They were completely opposites from each other. With different views and standpoints. A reputation to hold because of their connections to the Goddesses. And yet…

They completed each other so perfectly.

It was in his young youth when he became a teenager that the thoughts of love turned into lust. The deep feeling of wanting more from his twin, a deep sin that he was too scared to share with Stan lest he winded up with a broken heart and a broken bond. But as the years past, it only grew more and more, wanting his brother more than ever, daydreaming when he was alone fantasizing being together with Stan forever.

Some nights were hard for him to get through, having hot, lustful thoughts that made his cock hard and throbbing. Back then, it was easy to get away with it at night since Stan always slept like a rock through everything. Gargoyles were heavy sleepers. REALLY heavy sleepers.

Maybe that was why he did it that fateful day. Why when his brother was asleep, garments off and everything, he took the chance to make his fantasy a reality, putting his cock in Stan’s false womb and filling it with his cum.

Now it came back to haunt him in a form of a small child, barely around ten years of age with no clue that her _‘uncle’_ was her **_father_**.

And Stan never even knew that his own twin had taken advantage of him.

“What a mess I’m in.” Ford sighed, slumping against the door in his room. “Ten years, I thought Stan betrayed me, and yet I’m the one who put Nasha inside him in the first place.”

_Bill could have lied. He always lied._

“But when you look at the facts, it all adds up.”

_We need solid proof to be sure though._

“And the medical report wasn’t enough?”

_A blood test. Maybe that will prove it._

“But Bill will get in the way of that.” Ford groaned, slamming his head back. If there was a way he could find out if Nasha wasn’t his child without Bill getting in the way it would clear things up for him. But there wasn’t.

Bill would find a way. He always did.

Ford’s eyes flew open as there came some soft knocking on his door. Quickly he stood up, tripping a bit before he flopped onto the couch, straitening himself to look normal enough. “C-come in.” Ford cursed himself inwardly as the door opened and Stan poked his head in.

“Hey.”

“Hey.”

“Sooo, ‘bout that talk.”

Ford stiffened a bit, feeling dread crawling up in his guts. “Y-yes, well. I guess it was inevitable. W-what exactly do you want to talk about?”

Stan stepped into the room, closing the door behind him and leaned against it. He stared at the floor for a while, crossing his arms over his chest. After a while he looked up with a sad look on his face. “Ford… look, I… I know that we’ve hadn’t had the best of terms with each other over the years. Heck, I can’t count how many times I’ve done wrong by ya. But, can we… I don’t know, jus’… talk? It’s… kinda important.”

“Of course. I’m all ears here Stanley.” Ford kept his voice even, patting a spot next to him on the couch. He tried not to flinch as Stan sat down next to him.

They sat a while in silence. Ford occasionally looked to his twin, trying to see if there was any signs of hostility. After a couple of minutes, Stan sighed.

“Look, I’m no good at talkin’ while soundin’ like its intrestin’, so I’ll be frank here.” Stan took a deep breath. “Is it possible that you can raise Nasha on yer own?”

The room went silent.

“… what?”

“Nasha. I… I want you ta take care of her.”

Ford blinked. “She’s not getting sick again is she? Last I checked she seemed to be getting much be—”

“No! I mean, I want you ta raise her, like yer own daughter. Like she was yer own kid.”

Ford was silent for a moment, studying Stan’s face. “What do you mean?”

Stan sighed, rubbing his neck. “After this ‘Bill’ thin’ is over, I’m leavin’ fer the road again. Where I don’t know, but… I don’t want ta take Nasha with me. She already had a bad life the week she was born. I mean, she was born in my _car_ Ford! Not in a hospital where it’s safe an’ clean but in the back seat _floor_ of my _car_! Sure I didn’t know, but that would have been better fer her! An’ it only got worse when we left there. Hunters, witches, an’ every gargoyle hater out there tried ta get a knife through her throat. An’ I’m no better fer her! All I do is lie an’ cheat my way out of thin’s an’ I know I can’t give her the life she deserves. I can’t give her a home. I can’t give her a meal every day. I can’t give her the education she needs. Ford, I’m not suited ta raise her!” Stan shut his eyes, shaking his head. “I can’t keep on draggin’ her down with me. I… I need you ta take care of her.”

Ford was stunned.

Here was his brother. Asking him of all monsters to take care of his daughter while he went off somewhere without a plan, hoping to get the millions he was forced to earn to regain acceptance into the family. HIM.

“No.”

It was a simple answer. Just a simple two letter word, just a small pronunciation. Yet it was enough for Stan’s face to fall in defeat, to look so broken and dejected.

“Alright.”

Stan stood, walking towards the door and shutting it softly behind him.

Ford watched the door.

He waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

An—

“Hell.” Ford growled, shooting up from the couch and ran out the door. He made a run for the stairs before thinking twice and decided to check the front door. Swinging it open, he found Stan standing there, looking out into the wilderness with a blank expression on his face.

“Leaving her here won’t change my mind Stanley.” Ford growled.

“I wasn’t leavin’. Wasn’t on plannin’ ta leave her here either.” Stan kept his focus on the scenery even as Ford stood beside him.

“But you asked for me to take care of her.”

“An’ ya said no. I’m not goin’ ta burden ya with her if yer not goin’ ta take care of her.”

“Then why didn’t you insist that she stay here? Sure there’s the problem with Bill and everything, but not once have you backed down from a simple answer before!”

Stan stayed silent.

“… Ford, when I was all alone out there fer ten years, there were… ‘situations’ that I had ta back down in. Most of those situations would have wounded up with Nasha getting’ hurt or worse. Dead."

He turned his head, looking straight into Ford’s eyes.

“You said no. an’ I’m not goin’ ta leave her here when you don’t want her.” He turned his head away. “I already burdened ya enough as it is.”

Ford felt something break in him. This wasn’t how Stan was supposed to act. He was supposed to fight with every wit and claw that he had to the very end, not surrender and give up. That… that wasn’t how he remembered his brother.

“Stanley, listen. I can’t take care of Nasha. And I have a lot of reasons why. I would take care of her if the circumstances weren’t so bad right now, but I can’t. Not with Bill still being a major threat. But, maybe.” He reached out a paw, turning Stan’s head to look at him. “Maybe if, you stayed here, we could raise her together? After we take care of the current problem we have.”

Stan stared at him before sighing, pushing Ford’s paw away. “I’ll only be jus’ a bother. Yer jus’ sayin’ that ‘cause ya feel guilty.”

“No! … well, okay maybe, but I mean it Stan. You’ve spent ten years without any other family to help you care for Nasha, I think it’s time I stepped in and help you.”

“I haven’t made the millions yet—”

“FORGET ABOUT THE MILLIONS!” Stan jumped. “I don’t **_care_** if you have a million or trillion or how much you think you owe to us! Because I don’t want **_millions_** of worthless pieces of paper! What I want is my **_twin_**! And he’s you! And I hate myself for letting that **_MONSTER_** kick you out over that one mistake you made! Sure I was angry and sure I lost my chance at a perfect school, but that doesn’t mean I wanted you _gone_! You’re not a burden! You’re not holding me back! I! I! I!”

“Whoa! Easy! Easy there Sixer!” Stan wrapped his arms around Ford, holding him in a hug. “Calm down, come on. Take deep breaths. Nice an’ slow. Come on. Deep an’ easy. Deep an’ easy. That’s it. Deep an’ easy.”

Ford leveled his breathing, taking in slow gulps of air and calming his heart rate down, sinking into Stan’s hold.

“Thaaaaaat’s it. See? Doesn’t it feel better?”

Ford nodded his head, smiling.

“Good. Now that yer done rantin’ an’ all, how ‘bout we get inside? It’s cold out here an’ we… Stanford? Why are ya laughin’?”

Ford chuckled, wrapping his arms around Stan’s middle and held him close. “You called me Sixer.”

Stan blinked. “Yeeeeah. So?”

“That the first time you called me that since we’ve seen each other.” Ford giggled, burying his face against Stan’s neck.

Stan blinked a couple of times before his mind comprehended what Ford meant, smiling softly. “Yeah, I guess so.”


	22. Exploration

It took some time for things to settle down to a somewhat normal level.

Over the time, Ford and Stan began to bond, reestablishing their old bond they had when they were just small kids playing on the beach. They still avoided a few touchy subjects here and there and couldn’t exactly stay on stable terms for long since ten years apart made things a little shaky. But they at least had some common ground.

Nasha’s fever had gone away after the fifth day, and Ford was NOT prepared for such a high energetic cub in his home.

Especially when she found the R&D room.

“Oooooh! What’s this? Oh! What’s that?”

“C-careful Nasha!” Ford tried to grab the young cub, but she always managed to slip past him and onto looking at something else from his collected studies that he hadn’t stored away. He sighed warily. “When Stan said you were a handful when you got energetic, I didn’t think he meant you were _this_ much of a handful.”

And of course she just had to be so energetic when Stan was sleeping.

“I told him to get some rest. I told him Bill wouldn’t come with our guard up. I told him staying up four days in a row would wear him out. I told him that I could manage watching over a small girl would be easy.” Ford groaned as Nasha ducked under a table giggling. “I should have known that smirk meant something.”

Ford bent over, trying to find the little hybrid. “Nasha. Get back here.”

“No!” Nasha giggled.

“Nasha, when I said you could have a look around, I didn’t mean that you could wander off and go poking at everything you see.” Ford sighed, heading around the table and looked around for the small sphinx hybrid.

“But I’m not poking. I’m looking.”

“Yes well, you’re still not allowed to touch anything. There are plenty of items in here that you could very well hurt yourself with.” Ford looked one direction then turned around and jumped slightly with a small shout.

“OOOOOOoooooooOOOOOoooooOOOoooo! I’m a ghoooooOOOOOOoooooost!”

Ford smiled, laughing a bit as he grabbed the blanket and pulled it off Nasha. “Yes, a very nice interpretation of a class 2 ghosts my dear. The more playful type rather than scaring.”

“Ghosts are real?”

“Indeed they are. What I’ve seen in Gravity Falls anyway.” Ford knelled down, getting into eye level with the young girl. “And so many other things that you could not believe to see beyond your imagination.”

“Like a flying pig?”

Ford frowned a bit. “Weeeeellll. I haven’t really discovered one yet, but I’m sure it’s a possibility.”

Nasha shrugged, looking around. Her eyes landed on something behind Ford. “What’s that?”

Ford looked over his shoulder. “Oh, that? Just something I uncovered during my findings.” Ford stood up, padding over to the shelves and took down the amulet from the hanger. “The mystic amulet. A very powerful artifact I uncovered in some ancient ruins.” He held it out, letting Nasha look at the small blue jewel. “I believed some powerful wizard once made this, to show how powerful his magic was. Or maybe just used it to move things around while he sat and watched TV. Possibly.”

“Preeeeetty.” Nasha’s eyes twinkled.

“Yes, very.” Ford stood up, putting the amulet back. “And very dangerous. Which is why it has to stay up here on this top secured shelf.”

Just as Ford said that, a bat flew by, snatching the amulet and flew out a hole in the roof.

“…”

“…”

“…” Ford cleared his throat. “Right. Well, that will be added to the list of things to do then.”

“Bye-bye bat.”

“Okay, how about we not touch anything in here and do something else?”

“Like what?”

Ford looked around. “Um, well, there’s.” His eyes landed on some paper. Paper with numbers in boxes. Picking one up, Ford smiled. “How about Sudoku?”

Nasha tilted her head. “Su… sudoookooo?”

“Sudoku. It’s a very interesting brain puzzle.” He showed her the page. “See, the goal of this is to get all nine numbers in a row and column, no two number should repeat. There are nine boxes with nine squares inside. You have to fill each box with a number, but none of them should have a repeating number in the column or row. Here, I’ll show you a simple one.”

Ford took out a clean sheet of paper, pulling a pen out of her pocket and drew a four boxed square with four boxes inside. “Here this is a simple one for beginners.”

 **[** 1 **][** 3 **]** [2][]  
**[** 4 **][]** [3][]  
[][1] **[][** 2 **]**  
[2][] **[** 1 **][]**

“This should be simple enough for you.” Ford handed Nasha the paper and pen.

Nasha looked it over a bit before sitting on the ground, drawing in numbers in the empty boxes and held up her finished work.

 **[** 1 **][** 3 **]** [2][4]  
**[** 4 **][** 2 **]** [3][1]  
[3][1] **[** 4 **][** 2 **]**  
[2][4] **[** 1 **][** 3 **]**

“Nicely done.” Ford clapped his paws together.

“I want a harder one.”

Ford blinked. “Well, that was just a simple Sudoku. I guess it would be a bit boring to do small levels for a minimal time.”

“Harder Uncle Ford. I want to do a harder one.”

Ford tried not to flinch. The ‘uncle’ thing would have to get some used to for a while now. “Alright, alright, here you go.” Ford gave her a page. “But just remember. Sudoku it’s something you can easily master in a short amount of time. It takes some brain power, extra thinking, calculating, searching for the right place to—”

“Done!”

“Wait-wha?” Ford took the page Nasha held out, looking it over. His eyes widened. “How… did you do that?”

“I put numbers in boxes.” Nasha shrugged, rocking on her feet.

Ford frowned a bit, taking some more Sudoku papers out and handed them to her. “Here, try to finish these.”

He watched in silence as Nasha went to work, filling the boxes in one after another, completing Sudoku after Sudoku. Almost up to thirty minutes passed till Nasha finished the last page. Ford looked over at each one of them.

All of them were correct.

“… Nasha, how did you manage to figure all these out?” Ford looked at the girl in slight awe.

Nasha shrugged. “I just did what you said and filled it in. I’m good with numbers.”

“… yes. Indeed you are.” Ford looked at the pages.

“… Daddy taught me how to do numbers when I was little. He kept telling me that we had to be careful with what we had so we could have something later. I learned how to count, how to multiply and divide. He even gave me my bedtime book so I could read it before bed. Wait right here! I’ll go get it!” Nasha took off before Ford could stop her.

He watched as she disappeared up the stairs and through the door. He looked back the papers. “A girl her age shouldn’t have figured these out so quickly.” Ford mumbled.

_Then again, you were pretty smart at her age too._

Ford grimaced. “Did she… did she inherit some of my brain function?” Ford gripped his stomach.

_Maybe. She certainly wouldn’t have gotten it from Stan._

Ford frowned, twisting his head to look up as Nasha appeared again. “Found it!” She bounded down the stairs, stopping in front of Ford and held out the book. Ford almost blanched at the sight of the book.

“Science in functions. Easy to learn and fun facts to study.” Ford read the title aloud, taking the book, which was much thicker than his own three journals put together. “Stanley got you this to read?”

“Yeah. Daddy saw how interested I was in science after he took me to this museum this one time. I really like it. Chemistry and physics are pretty good, and I like astronomy too.” Nasha swung her arms slowly as Ford opened the book, looking over the pages. “It has a lot of big words in it so I don’t really get it too much.”

Ford looked over each page, eye browsing each one. Few pages had sticky notes on them, handwritten by small hands that pointed out notes and facts, some with problems and factors. Few notes had familiar hand writing, large and drawn out with their own notes.

“You really are into this sort of stuff?” Ford looked over the book at the small girl.

“Uh-huh. Daddy says that I’m just like someone he knew!” Nasha paused, looking up at Ford with a spark. “… Do… you like this stuff too?”

Ford gazed at the small child before smiling. “Yep. More than you might think.” He placed a paw on her head, shuffling her brown locks of hair which made her giggle. Ford smiled before frowning, feeling around Nasha’s head. He placed the book aside and parted Nasha’s hair some ways, reveling two small nubs. “… huh, would you look at that?”

“But I can’t look at it! It’s on my head!” Nasha patted her small growing horns.

And Ford just laughed.


	23. Movie night

Stan wasn’t too sure that it was normal for a heavy book to suddenly slam down on your head was the best way to wake someone up. Efficient, but dame did it hurt.

“Nasha!”

Stan opened one eyed, blinking away the sleep as he rubbed his head. To some extent, he wasn’t too surprised to see his kid glaring at him in a huff, though with Ford hovering over her looking very shocked by the display, he understand why. Nasha may have inherited most of her looks from the jerk that he’ll never know or see again, but she also inherited some of his personality. Meaning she acted more on emotions than thought sometimes, just like her old man.

“What? What is it? Is it him?”

“You lied!”

Stan blinked at his child. “Wha?”

Nasha huffed, stomping her foot down. “You said I only had one uncle! **_One_**!”

“Yeah, an’ he’s right behind ya.”

“NO! I have _another_ one!”

Stan blinked. “Wha? What other one?”

“Uncle Shermie!” Nasha raised her arms above her head.

It took a moment before it registered in Stan’s brain, and when it did he just sighed, running one hand down his face. “Sweetie, your daddy really doesn’t want to talk ‘bout yer other uncle.”

“But I have another uncle! How could you not mention him?!”

“Maybe it’s ‘cause I never really got ta know him. He was only few months old when I last saw him.” Stan shrugged, twisting his body in the small space the couch provided.

He heard Nasha huff and, as he expected, felt a small body hop onto him, clinging to his clothes and crawled up onto his hip. Ford made some sort of squawking noise of distress but thankfully didn’t intervene.

Stan glanced up with a raised brow as Nasha sat on his hip with her arms crossed. “What?”

“Is there anyone else you’re not telling me about?”

“Hmm, well I don’t know, let me think. Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhh nope!”

“You weren’t even thinking!”

“How would you know?”

“You went aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh nope! That means you weren’t even thinking of anything!”

“I was thinkin’ of somethin’.”

“No you weren’t!”

“Yes I was. I thinkin’ how cute ya look right now.”

The reaction was priceless. Nasha’s face scrunched in confusion then morphed into thinking, then her eyes widened. She let out a small squeal, covering her face in her slivery white six fingered hands, her wings popping open and she bent over.

“ _Dddddaaaaaaaaaaaaadddyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!_ ”

Stan chuckled, adoring how cute his little girl got easily flustered.

“… I take it that this is normal exchange between you both?” Stan glanced at Ford, who looked completely at loss of the whole event before him.

“Yeah, it basically nothin’ ta worry over. It never really lasts that long.” Stan smiled at Nasha, putting a hand on her head and ruffled her hair. Nasha let out a small groan, her gargoyle tail thrashing against Stan’s thigh while her feet clutched his clothes in a bundle.

“So it seems.” Ford adjusted his glasses, looking between them.

)*(

They took turns.

Ford would watch for anything during the day and Stan would take watch at night.

They weren’t too sure if Bill would strike again so soon, but there were no signs of the demon anywhere.

Ford made sure that the barrier was still in top condition, even going far as to apply some protection over it in case something ever disturbed the connecting hairs. He made sure to check the monitors for anything he couldn’t see, but they came out clean.

Stan took over when night fell. The cover of darkness hid the world in the shadow of black, making it easy for a creature made for the night to blend in easy to slip by undetected. But not to a gargoyle. He always perched himself on the roof, looking out for anything that was suspicious or didn’t belong.

The food stock wasn’t very high, even when Ford rationed it out… only to let Stan do the rationing instead because no one could just survive on one bit of crumb each day. Ford tried. He failed.

Nasha was the more tricky aspect.

For a child of nine years of age, she got bored very often. Very, very, very, very, **_VERY_** bored.

Which wasn’t such a good thing…

“NASHA! GET DOWN FROM THE RAFTERS!”

“Don’t draw on that Nasha! It’s cursed!”

“Naaaashaaaa! Don’t stack those thin’s like that!”

“Okay Nasha. Don’t do any rash moves with—PUT DOWN THAT WAND RIGHT NOW!”

“How did ya even manage ta get yerself covered in dirt? Ya didn’t even step outside!”

“Yes yes. This has been fun and all and we had our laughs. Now please put us back down on the floor.”

“I’m sorry sweetie but gnomes don’t make good dolls.”

“Nasha! Please! Stop clawing the wall!”

Nasha huffed as Ford pulled her away from the wall she was sharpening her claws against. “But I’m boooorrrrrrrrrrred! It’s there anything I can do?”

“Nasha, we’ve told you before. There’s nothing much we can do right now, not until Stan heals up and we can get back to dismantling the portal.” Ford sighed as he examined the damage. “And now I have these groves to cover up.”

Nasha growled, thrashing her arms about. “I want to do something Uncle Ford! I don’t like being cooped up in this place! It’s too small!”

“Well why not do another Sudoku then?”

“I finished them all. Days ago.” Nasha crossed her arms, glaring at her uncle.

“All of it already?” Ford was a little surprised then sighed. “I’m sorry Nasha, but there simply nothing we can do right now. I would suggest going outside to play but it’s too cold and too dangerous out there.” When Nasha gave no reply, Ford heaved a sigh. Thinking a bit, he set her down with a smile. “Hang on a bit.”

Nasha watched as Ford disappeared around the corner, sitting down with her arms crossed. A few minutes passed before Ford returned, holding out something for her. “It’s not much but kids your age like movies right?”

Nasha looked at what Ford held in his paws. The title read The Phantom Tollbooth. She blinked as she stared at the cover. “… What’s a movie?”

)*(

“Honestly Stanley, how could you never taken Nasha to see a movie before?”

Stan huffed, helping Ford set up the small TV he had sitting around in his attic in the living room. “Wasn’t much of a choice back then. Too busy tryin’ ta earn a million an’ keep us both fed. Plus, I couldn’t really find any good flicks ta show her anyway.”

“I’m surprised you never even took her to one.”

“I’m surprised you even have one.” Stan looked at the box Nasha held in her hands. “The Phantom Tollbooth. Eessh. I hadn’t seen that since ma brought it home one day an’ forced us all to watch it.”

“I recalled you enjoying it.” Ford shot Stan a small smirk, making the gargoyle blush a bit.

Stan coughed into his fist. “S-Shouldn’t you be on lookout duty or somethin’?”

“It’s just a small break. And I wanted to spend time with my family for a while now.” Ford smiled, taking the video from Nasha and turned the small TV on.

Stan rolled his eyes and said nothing, heading over to the couch and sat down, picking Nasha up and setting her on his lap as Ford put the video in. It was static for a while before it cleared up and the movie began.

The family watched as the film began with a small skeleton boy in his room, looking more dead than alive before a sudden appearance of a tollbooth. As the movie went on, Stan stole some glances at Ford. Despite all the stress and worry on his face, Ford still looked the same to him since he last saw him. Curious, fun-loving, and best of all smart.

Even when they had grown apart, Ford was still Ford. Quirky, awkward, and brilliant as the sun itself. It was so good to see him again. Even if he was no longer that small cub he once protected, he was still the same Ford he knew he could trust deep down.

He smiled, snuggling a bit closer to Ford as he returned his focus on the film, not noticing the surprised look on his twin as he blushed underneath his fur and smiled goofy.


	24. Bath time

“No!”

“Nasha come on—”

“No!”

“This is fer yer own good—”

“No!”

“The sooner ya do it the faster you’ll get do—”

“No!”

“Come On!”

“Nooo!”

Stan growled as he, for the tenth time, tried to get Nasha in the tub. “Look! It’s not even filled half way! Yer not gonna drown in it!”

“No!” Nasha ducked underneath Stan, dashing for the door and tried to open it.

“It’s locked kid.” Stan rolled his eyes, picking Nasha up at the scruff of her neck. “I know ya don’t like water, but ya really need a bath right now.”

“No!” Nasha tried to struggle out of Stan’s grip.

Stan sighed, using both his hands to hold Nasha’s arms to her sides and slowly lowered her into the bathtub.

Nasha let out a scream once her feet were submerged, and continued to scream as Stan sat her down.

“Oh Come On! Stop screamin’ already! Yer already in an’ yer not dyin’!” Stan growled, scooping up some water and pouring it onto her back.

There was a knock coming from the door. “Stanley? Is everything alright in there?”

“It’s fine Ford, Nasha’s just not used ta water.” Stan sighed, taking a bottle of shampoo and applied some to Nasha’s hair. “Nasha, please! Scremin’ bloody murder isn’t gonna help you.”

Nasha stopped screaming, turning her head to glare at her father before raising one arm up and splashing some water at his face. Stan gave her a blank look before returning to working in the lather. Nasha huffed and turned her head away, crossing her arms and pouting.

)*(

Once the screaming had stopped, Ford was at a small ease. He knew what it was like in Nasha’s place, hating water all the same and how their mother struggled to get him in the tub. He still hated water, but he was more tolerant of it now… mostly.

He tried to get back on focusing on how to get rid of Bill for good. If the portal was going down, so was Bill. Who knew what that demon was capable of if he ever found another way into the world. Nothing good.

But there was a small problem to his plan.

Okay a big problem.

Bill was a being made of light, meaning he couldn’t be physically harmed unless he was inside one’s mind. However, one could not simply just fight Bill in their own mind. Bill was a master of mind manipulation. He could bend anything to his will in the mindscape, and, much worse, drive anyone to insanity.

Another possible solution was if Bill was somehow trapped inside someone’s mind and that mind would be destroyed with him in it. But that would just sacrifice the person as well.

Ford’s face hardened.

If it meant keeping the world safe, any sacrifice need to be made will be done.

Ford perked up as the door opened. Nasha stepped out, covered in a bath towel and looked very displeased being wet.

“Someone doesn’t look to happy.” Ford bent down to her eye level.

Nasha huffed, blowing some of her wet hair out of her face. “I hate water.”

“You and me both.” Ford chuckled, looking up as Stan stepped out. He frowned. “Stanley, why are you all wet?”

“I don’t know, you tell me.” Stan’s tone was dipped in sarcasm, looking down at his daughter. She huffed, refusing to look at him. Stan rolled his eyes. “Listen, ya wouldn’t mind me takin’ a quick shower?”

“You look like you already had a bath.” Ford joked. Stan shot him a glare, which prompted to shut his mouth shut.

“Whatever.” Stan sighed, heading back inside.

Nasha looked up to him. “Wet.”

Ford smiled, patting her on the head. “Yes indeed. You are wet.” He chuckled, picking her up in his arms. “Let’s get you dry and into some warm clothes.”

Nasha nodded enthusiastically, clinging to Ford as they went off to the spare bedroom to find Nasha some clothes.

)*(

Stan couldn’t remember the last time he ever had a warm bath before. That probably would have been a bad sign if he even cared about it before. At least he felt a bit cleaner now. All the dirt and grime that was itching in his skin were washed away, leaving him free of the filth from his body. He sighed contently, letting the warm water run down his back and ran his claws through his hair.

It felt… good to be back in a house again. While he would preferred it to be under more safely ideal conditions, he found himself quickly becoming quite attached to this place. Sure it was rickety and needed a few touch ups here and there, he found this place to be alright in some weird strange way.

Kinda like Ford in some way.

Stan frowned. Ford had been acting very strange over the last couple of days around him. He noticed his strange behavior when he thought Stan wasn’t looking. The lingering looks, awkward stumbles in his sentences, and if Ford wasn’t covered in fur, he was sure his twin was blushing a couple times when he gave him some friendly nudges here and there.

If he didn’t know any better, he could almost say that Ford had a crush on him or something.

Just like back in their teens.

He smiled fondly. Back then Ford had more trouble hiding his feelings for Stan. He fumbled and stuttered here and there, hiding his face in books when Stan looked at him, which was often amusing to watch his twin become a goofy love sick teen. Sure Stan knew Ford had a small crush for him, but he never found it in himself to think that Ford had any _real_ feelings for him.

If he did, he wouldn’t had let Stan be kicked out.

He frowned again, deciding that he had been in the shower long enough. The warm air hung around as he stepped out of the tub, getting down on all four and shaking off the excess water from his body, grabbing a towel and began drying himself.

He didn’t notice the door opening.

He had his back turned, drying his face off.

He didn’t noticed the intruder till he heard them gasp in shock.

Stan glanced over his shoulder, staring at Ford who mirrored his own shocked face, though Ford’s was more of a concerned look.

A face of horror seeing all sorts of old scars covering his twin’s backside.


	25. Scars

**_Years ago_ **

_“Filthy Skunk!”_

_The twins looked behind them. An old centaur wearing a mailman uniform was glaring at them, his nostrils flaring, stomping his hooves to the ground._

_“You’re Stinking Race Should Be Dead And Never Exist In The First Place!”_

_“Hey! We have a right ta be here!” Stan shouted back._

_The centaur growled lowly, rearing up on his hind legs and charged at them. Before he could run them over, a large mass of feathers jumped between them, letting out a high pitched scream. The boys couldn’t see it, but whatever the centaur saw made his face go white, turning tail and running._

_Ma Pines stood straight, watching the centaur go before turning to her boys with a concerned look. “Are you boys alright?”_

_“We’re fine ma.” Stan puffed out his chest, putting on a brave smile. “But that guy was a real stick in the mud! What’s his problem?”_

_A strange look crossed their mother’s face, one the boys couldn’t make out. She quickly put on a fake smile. “L-let’s go home, okay? I’ll get you boys some ice cream on the way back.”_

_“Ice Cream?!” Stan’s face lit up in joy, drooling a little at the thought of the sweet treat._

_Ford frowned as they walked, not listening to his twin as he listed which ice cream he wanted and ma nodding along to his antics. He looked down at his paw, flexing his six fingers carefully. He knew that most monsters didn’t like his deformity, but for some reason, he didn’t think that centaur was talking about him._

_They were in the ice cream store soon, and once they sat down with their ice creams, Ford looked up at his mother. “Ma? Why was that centaur mad at us?”_

_Martha froze, looking between her two boys. The same look crossed her face before she sighed, setting her spoon down. “He wasn’t angry at both of you. He was mad at… Stanley.”_

_The twins shared a look of confusion. “Why? What did I ever do ta him?”_

_“You didn’t do anything sweetie. You’re a nice boy. It’s… he was angry at you because… it’s because you’re a gargoyle.”_

_“What’s wrong with bein’ a gargoyle?” Stan puffed out his chest, flapping his small wings._

_“There’s nothing wrong with you being a gargoyle, it’s just… a lot of monsters don’t like gargoyles.”_

_“Why?” Ford tilted his head. There was nothing wrong with Stanley was there? Why didn’t most monsters like gargoyles?_

_Ma shook her head. “A result of bad history. One that many take too seriously at bad times.”_

_The twins shared another look, wondering what their mom meant as they went home, making sure not to tell their father about today, and kept thinking about it as they went to bed._

)*(

**Present**

Back then, everything had been alright for the two small boys, growing up with dreams and hopes. Back then they could easily ignore the cruelty of the world and substituted it with their own where they were happy.

But as they grew older, they noticed things. Things that didn’t belong in their fading world. Things that made they want to curl up and hide away where it would never find them ever again.

It hurt. Mentally and physically. Like that one time a stranger had dragged off Stanley by his tail and Ford had to get their father to save him. It was probably the one and only time Filbrick had protected them before enrolling them in boxing class. It was also the day that they were taught why gargoyles were constantly shunned and beaten.

Ford never liked it, not even when he learned that their species were mortal enemies. He couldn’t find it in himself to hate his brother, they were twins! They cared about each other. They were family! He would protect his brother from the mean monsters that tried to hurt him.

But that didn’t happen.

And the result of that was right in front of him, with Stan’s back turned to him, showing multiple of old and new scars littering his back, all looking very ugly and wrong being there. And they shouldn’t have been there. They never were supposed to be there! It was completely **_WRONG_** being there on Stanley’s back!

“Stanley…” Ford felt sick, staring at the **_wrongness_** all over his twin’s back. His grip on the clothes he brought to give his twin to wear tightened.

Stan was stone still, his eyes wide in shock. He was lucky last time when the room was so dark Ford couldn’t see his scars, but now in the proper lighting he could see them all.

They stared at one another for long minuets that felt like hours. Stan broke from staring first, turning his head away in shame. “Go away Ford. This isn’t somethin’ you should see.”

Ford snapped out of his shock, carefully going over to Stan. “Stanley, what… where did… how?”

Stan huffed, wrapping a large towel around him, covering his body from Ford. “It doesn’t matter.” He sat down, waiting for Ford to leave him be.

“Yes it does! Stan this… this isn’t something you should hiding from me! Who did this to you? What happened? Why—”

“ ** _WILL YOU BUT OUT ALREADY?!_** ” Stan snapped at Ford, almost ready to bite off his paws if he got too close. “ ** _WHAT DO YOU THINK HAPPENED?! THAT IT WAS JUS’ A CAKE WALK FER ME OUT THERE?! NO ONE LIKES A GARGOYLE FORD! THEY WOULD RATHER SEE ‘EM DEAD THAN ALIVE!_** ” He looked away, panting heavily. “… leave me alone Ford.”

Ford was stunned. This was the second time he had seen his brother so angry at him and yet… he felt something breaking in him even though Stan barely laid a finger on him. It made him feel even more sick than ever before. What had gone on in those years apart? Carefully, Ford sat himself down next to Stan.

Whether it was a twin thing, or something they used to do when one was upset, they sat together in silence, the close proximity of each other brought some ease to their worries, feelings of anger dripping away, and the security of family being there drifted in.

It was probably half an hour before Stan leaned against Ford, rubbing his head against his shoulder. “Nobody likes a gargoyle Ford. Nobody.”

Ford frowned, rubbing his chin on top of Stan’s head. “I like you.” He mumbled softly, wrapping one wing around his brother and held him close.

This surprised Stan a bit but soon relaxed into the hold, snuggling close to his twin. How long had it been since they held each other like this? How long ago had they comfort each other when one was down deeper than the ground? He didn’t remember. When they were growing up, they kept their emotions to themselves, fighting through it on their own without burdening the other about any of their troubles.

But, it felt… nice to be held like this. Safe under someone’s care and love, someone who showed that he wasn’t a waste of space or some accident that should have never been born in the first place.

“Stanley?” Ford drew his head away, looking at his twin in surprise, hearing him draw in air sharply. “Stanley are you alright?”

Stan shook his head, burying his face against Ford’s shoulder. Ford didn’t say anything except wrapping his wings around his brother, cocooning both of them in colorful bright feathers.

“I got you Stanley. I got you.” Ford whispered softly, rocking them gently. “I got you.”


	26. Secrets

_Nasha M. Pines, the world’s number one hunter, was on the hunt again. Winter had been hash this year, making it difficult for a good kill. She would not give up so easily though. Persistence was the key to survival. She wasn’t going to stop till she had hunted something down to kill._

_And an opportunity showed itself. Her eyes locked onto the target, crouching down to the ground while taking careful steps. Her prey doesn’t see her coming up close. She is being stealthy enough not to alert them of her presence._

_Inch by inch she gets closer. Step by step. Carefully not making a single sound. Eyes only on the target._

_Ready…_

_Annnnnd…_

“Ack!” Ford jumped, whirling around to see Nasha pinning his tail down. “Nasha.”

She giggled, batting Ford’s tail playfully and tugged it in her mouth.

Stan peeked his head in, hearing Ford’s shout. Looking between the two, he only smirked, chuckling as he walked away.

Ford frowned once Stanley disappeared, looking down at sphinx/gargoyle hybrid who wrapped herself in Ford’s tail, chewing on the end with some of his hair sticking out of her mouth.

“Were you ever this big of a paw full?”

Nasha only giggled.

)*(

“Uncle Ford, can you tell me how daddy ended up living in a car?”

Ford’s body tensed. His pen that he was mindlessly chewing on while figuring out how to stop Bill snapped in two. Ink didn’t taste too good in his mouth.

Spitting out the bad taste, he looked to Nasha, who was quietly sitting in her chair waiting for an answer. “W-Why would you ask that my dear?”

“Because daddy and me always lived in his car. He never says why we live there or how we never stay in a house for a couple days, and he never talks about it.” She tilted her head. “Do you know why?”

Ford looked away, ashamed. “It’s… a very sensitive subject for both of us to talk about.”

“What happened?”

Ford shook his head. “I don’t want to talk about it Nasha.”

Nasha frowned, but stayed silent, going back to eating her small snack. Ford was glad she didn’t pry on the subject and quickly went back to figuring out how to defeat Bill. However, his mind couldn’t focus as it kept thinking back to the events long ago. The angry yells, the rejection to his dream collage, the sad broken look on Stan’s face…

“… It was… about ten years ago. Before you were born. There was this… project that I created, one that would have changed the world. It caught the attention of a special school. A once in a life time college. I would have gotten in… but then… Stanley messed everything up.” He could still remember the night he came home, yelling at his brother for his mistake the cost him everything.

“When ou… Filbrick, overheard our argument, getting mad at your dad and threw him out that night.” He swallowed a thick lump in his throat. “He told him that unless he made a million dollars, he wasn’t welcomed back into the family.”

“… and… daddy was living in his car ever since?”

Ford nodded. “After that, we lost all contact from him and… well.”  He looked at his… at Nasha. “I think you know the rest.”

Nasha nodded glumly. “Yeah. I was born, daddy kept trying to keep us both alive… sometimes bad people tried to kill us.”

Ford cringed, biting his lips hard enough to draw blood. “… you didn’t deserve a life like that. Neither of you did.”

“It’s fine. We had a few good times, even if they weren’t very frequent.” She smiled up at him before frowning. “What’s a college?”

“A college is a place where you can learn much more than you could in high school.”

“What’s a high school?”

“A place where you go to learn special subjects. It’s almost like school but with life expectancy and acne.”

“What’s acne?”

“It’s a red dot on your skin that you get in your teenage years. You’re dad used to have some on his face in his teens.”

“What’s my dad’s face?”

“Well he—… Heeeeeeey.”

Nasha giggled in her hands, smiling at Ford. “I got you!”

Ford smiled. “You got me.”

)*(

“Ford, while I appreciate the thought, is it really this necessary?”

“Can’t be too careful Stanley. We don’t know what you’ve picked up over the ten years.”

“It was jus’ a small cough! I’m not sick or anythin’.” Stan huffed, watching Ford dab a spot on his arm with a cotton ball.

“You don’t know that. Besides, I just want to make sure that you and Nasha are alright.” Ford picked up a needle. “You could have picked up a virus and not even know it. You said that you barely had enough to see a doctor. And knowing you, you probably didn’t see one unless it was to check up on Nasha’s health.”

“No… well, yeah, okay. Ya got it on the dot.” Stan flinched as the needle pierced through his skin, watching as Ford drew blood into the small glass tube.

“Alright, that should be enough.” Ford withdrew the needle, looking over its contents. “Within a few days, I should get a clear reading from your blood sample and see if there’s anything amiss in both your blood streams.” Ford stood, setting the syringe down next to another small tube filled with blood.

“Still not alright that ya took blood from my girl without tellin’ me.”

“I promise that I didn’t do it by force. I explained it very carefully to Nasha and made sure that she was alright with it before doing anything with her.”

Stan snorted, walking out of the kitchen. “Ya better had.”

Ford waited for a few minutes, slowly frowning. He looked back at the two filled syringes, picking them up and inspecting them. He looked down at the counter where another syringe laid, empty, waiting for him to draw blood from his own veins.

The elevator was fixed and the computers were ready. All he needed to do now was scan the blood samples he gathered and finally find out that what he dreaded to know was true.

It was time to find out if he really was Nasha’s father.


	27. Night Games

The thing about being half gargoyle, it wasn’t fun.

Many monsters hated gargoyles.

They threw mean words at you, try to stick a knife in your skin, and sometimes there were much crueler things that should not be mentioned.

Those meaner things never happened to her.

Only to daddy.

But she still hated it.

Daddy would often try to shrug it off and pretend that nothing happened to him, but she knew her daddy well enough that he was hurting on the inside.

Another thing about gargoyles?

They don’t sleep easy.

A long hard thing Nasha had to deal with on a nightly bases as she got older.

Laying in bed, her eyes were glued to the ceiling.

She could tell she wasn’t getting much sleep tonight as she felt more awake than sleepy.

She didn’t mind too much.

It was better that she kept one eye open anyway.

Bad monsters could be around here and she needed to be ready to run.

Was she liking that she and daddy were staying at Uncle Ford’s house for so long?

No, not really.

They never stayed this long in one place before.

And if she was honest, she didn’t find this all too comforting.

She was more used to living in the car with her daddy.

Just the two of them, going around, seeing the world even if it never wanted to see them.

Living out in the STNLYMBL.

That was where she felt more comfortable in.

She like the small space and the smells she had grown up used to, not beds in strange places or strangers taking her away from her daddy and trying to give her to someone else.

Daddy always came back to get her, and she never liked the strangers that tried to take her away.

Her ear twitched, hearing the faint claws of her daddy’s hands and feet scraping against the roof.

If this bad monster wasn’t such a big threat, she was sure her daddy would be in bed with her, curled around her protectively and keeping her safe.

But not anymore.

Sighing, she pushed the covers off her and slid out of bed.

Maybe some exploring would tire her out.

She stepped outside of the room and paused.

She glanced around, looking between the stairs that led down into the room filed with odd things to look at, to the stairs that led upwards to a part of Uncle Ford’s house that she hadn’t seen yet.

Daddy said it was wrong to go snooping in family business and that Uncle Ford wouldn’t like it if he caught her going someplace she wasn’t allowed to go to.

…

Too bad daddy didn’t say that she couldn’t go when no one was around.

Quickly as she could, and quietly, Nasha made her way up the stairs, grinning with mischief.

The top of the stairs was a rather boring thing as there was only an empty space with some boxes along the wall and a door at the end.

Not thinking twice about it, Nasha crept closer to the door, tugging the handle and smiled when she found it was unlocked.

She wasn’t surprised to find the room so dark.

Thanks to her night vision, she could see just fine.

Though daddy did tell her that it was better for her to look around with light on, so she found the light switch and turned it on.

Once the light came on, Nasha frowned at the sight before her.

Boxes.

Tons of them.

No doubt filled with stuff Uncle Ford had stored away.

Her frown deepened.

It would have been more fun if the boxes were empty, that way she could play in them.

Boxes were more fun that way.

Oh well.

Time for some exploring!

She lunged for the first box closet to her, prying it open and peeked inside.

To her disappointment, it was filled with clothes.

“Boring.” She huffed, moving to the next box.

Unfortunately, the same result happened four times filled with nothing but clothes.

The fifth box however soon caught her attention.

The word HOME was written in large letters on one side of the box, reaching up to Nasha’s height to her neck and bigger than the other boxes she looked into.

Something new?

She went over to it, opening it up carefully and peered inside.

To her disappointment, all she found was some strange machine, some round disk things and… another box?

She took out the box, looking it over and shaking it next to her ear.

It was covered in dust.

Thick dust.

She gave it a small puff of air, coughing a bit when a cloud of dust tickled her airway.

Waving her hand a bit, she looked back at the box.

And was utterly confused.

)*(

“Uncle Ford? Uncle Ford? Uncle Foooorrrrrrrrd. Unnnncle Foooooooorrrrrrrrrrd.”

Ford groaned, burying his face in his arms. He was completely tired and was trying to get some sleep, but someone had other plans for him and he wasn’t enjoying it one bit. “Not now Stanley… ‘m trying to study here.”

“I’m not daddy. I’m Nasha!”

Ford mumbled something, then tried to go back to sleep.

Only to have something slam against the side of his head.

“WHA?!” Ford cried out, jolting up and falling backwards in his chair, landing none too gracefully on the floor. He blinked a couple of times to get his bearings and calm his heart rate down.

“Uncle Ford?”

Ford looked up. Nasha was looking down at him, holding something in her arms. “Nasha? What are you doing up?”

“Couldn’t sleep.” Nasha mumbled as Ford got up off the floor. “Daddy says that gargoyles don’t sleep too well.”

“Ah. Yes, that is a small problem.” Ford nodded in understanding, remembering the nights Stan had stayed up because of his insomnia. That often led him to sleeping through school or falling asleep the instant he made it to bed out cold for who knows how long. “What do you have there?”

Nasha looked down at the flat box in her arms and held it out for Ford. He took it and examined it. “Dungeons, Dungeons, and more Dungeons? I hadn’t played this since I was just a kid!” Ford exclaimed happily, then frowned and looked back at Nasha. “Where did you get this?”

“The attic.” Nasha smiled, rocking on her heels.

“Ah.” Ford nodded, looking back down at the box.

“What’s it about Uncle Ford?”

“It’s a game Nasha. Full of charts, planning, and all sorts of interesting things.” Ford smiled. “I used to have so much fun with this game. Only it was more one sided since no one else wanted to play with me.” He frowned. Then he looked at Nasha. A smile started to grow on his face. “Nasha, would you like to play?”

)*(

Stan wasn’t sure what he walked into… okay he did but still, it was surprising none the less.

There were charts _everywhere_. On the floor, on the walls, heck, there were even on the ceiling for crying out loud! And the two culprits responsible were on the floor, grinning madly at each other.

“What’s… goin’ on here?” They looked at him, suddenly noticing him standing there.

“Oh! Stanley! Great timing! Nasha and I were just about to wrap up this round! Want to join us?” Ford grinned eagerly, shaking his paw and tossing so dice on the board. “Eleven points!”

Nasha threw her hands up and gave out a loud groan.

“How lon’ have you two been up?” Stan folded his arms against his chest. He knew for a fact that his brother had a tendency to lose track of time if it involved a certain game he liked to play when they were cubs.

“All night.” Nasha grabbed the dice, grinning up at her dad. “I like this game daddy! You should join in!”

“She’s a fast learner! And she’s very outstanding in role playing.” Ford reached over, patting Nasha on the head, making her smile wide.

Stan looked at Nasha. “Ya couldn’t sleep last night, could ya?”

Her smile deflated a bit. “No…”

Stan sighed, shaking his head. “Please tell me ya didn’t wake up Ford an’ had him playin’ with ya the whole night.”

“Come now Stanley, I don’t mind. I was happy to stay up with her. Besides! It’s been such a long time since I had anyone to play D D and more D with.” Ford tried to reason before letting out a large yawn, followed by a smaller yawn from Nasha.

Stan shook his head. “Bed. The both of ya.”

“Nnnnnnnooooooooooooooo…”

“Come now Stanley, we’re almost done here. Just a little longer?” Ford yawned again, and Stan would have none of it.

“Nope. Yer both goin’ ta bed.” With that, Stan went and pick both sphinx and his daughter up, being careful not to step on anything as he headed for upstairs, ignoring the feeble complaints from his occupants. He went to the bedroom and plopped Nasha down on the bed, turning to head downstairs and put the already fast asleep Ford in his own bed.

“Daddy?”

Stan stopped, looking over his shoulder.

Nasha was looking at him with sleepy eyes. “Stay… please?”

Stan’s heart clenched. He really missed sleeping next to his little girl at night. Her small presence next to his large body was a comfort, and lately he missed that comfort. Debating for a little while, Stan sighed, heading back to the bed and set Ford down to one side as he got on the other side, sandwiching Nasha between them.

Nasha gave him a small smile before closing her eyes and falling asleep. He waited a few minutes to be sure that she really was asleep then looked at Ford. The dork looked silly when he was asleep. Snoring almost as loud as Stan did.

He smiled, carefully taking Ford’s glasses off and putting them aside. He snuggled close to his family, unfurling one wing and draping it over them and slowly let sleep take over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!


	28. Space Eels

Ford was… stunned.

No. Stunned wasn’t the right word. Surprised? Maybe. Just a little. Yeah, maybe surprised. After all, he didn’t expect to wake up and find himself in bed with his brother and his niece/possible daughter.

The world was a blur since he didn’t have his glasses on, but he could defiantly tell it was them. If the snores and white fluff weren’t to any indication to who it was, then he needed more locks on his really needed to be repaired door.

His face felt warm. He didn’t expect to be in _this_ type of situation. Though, he was fairly certain nothing bad had happened last night. And with Nasha sung between them, it was safe to say that it was not any situations his dumb mind was thinking of.

Carefully as he could without disturbing anyone, Ford crawled out of bed, quickly finding his glasses and putting them back on his face. He could tell they all slept in pretty late in the day by the low lighting coming from the window.

With a soft hum, Ford descended downstairs, seeing the charts left behind from last night’s game of DD&D all over. He bent down, picking up one of the charts Nasha had made, looking it over with a smile. She certainly had a talent for coming up with complicated and ingenious charts on a whim. It was enough to make Ford struggle and put all his effort into making it through her little plans.

“She certainly has some smarts in that head of hers.” Ford chuckled, picking up charts and setting them away before Stan could complain about the mess. “Just like… me.” He paused.

Nasha was showing a great deal of intelligence. More than an average child her age should be capable of. It was a pity that Stan couldn’t afford to send her to school, it would have improved her knowledge at a much higher skill.

_But he couldn’t._

Ford bit his lip. No. He couldn’t. Stanley could never afford to send Nasha to school or even stay in one place thanks to the prejudice against gargoyles.

_“Ah heard ‘bout this one incident with a family of gargoyles been killed over night fer stayin’ in a small town. Poor family. Makes me wonder how bad the world is today.”_

Fiddleford’s voice echoed in his mind. It was a pointless conversation back at the time, something they did in their collage days when they had a rare slow day. His gut twisted, thinking about how Stanley could have been in that place with that family and how he never tried to reach out to him.

And what about Nasha? Would she too have been killed alongside her father for being part gargoyle? Would she suffer under the same prejudice that Stan had to face?

_Yes, she did._

Ford’s heart broke into two, thinking about how much his family had suffered over the long ten years.

)*(

“Boop your nose!”

“Boop yer nose.”

“Boop your nose!”

“Boop yer nose.”

“Boop _your_ nose!”

“Boop yer nose.”

Nasha giggled, pressing her hand against Stan’s large nose. “Boop your nose!”

The laughing was contagious as Stan tapped the tip of his daughter’s nose. “Boop yer nose.” He broke out into a wide grin as Nasha squealed with delight. It was such a joy to see her in high spirits, it put some relief inside Stan.

Sure things seem to be on a down side lately, but seeing Nasha happy put Stan in a good mood.

He glanced up, noticing Ford lingering at the doorway. “Heya Sixer. What’s shakin’?”

“Hi Uncle Ford!” Nasha cheered happily.

Ford smiled at them. Although, Stan could see there was a hint of nervousness in his eyes for some reason. “Stanley, Nasha. Would you two mind to join me on the roof? There’s something I would like to show you.”

Stan exchanged a look with Nasha, shrugging a bit before getting their coats on and following Ford up to the roof. A spot had been cleared of snow for them to sit comfortably on.

“Soo what’s on yer mind Ford?” Stan turned to his brother. “Any reason why we’re up here?” His thoughts turn to Bill for a moment, but shook it off. Ford was too relaxed and at ease. If Bill was the case, he wouldn’t be like this.

“Oh, no reason in particularly.” Ford shrugged, keeping his gaze on the sky. “I just thought we could spend some time out here with each other since it’s been a while.”

Stan could tell he was lying. He hadn’t spent ten years out on the street being a con-goyle and not pick up on a few key tricks of lying. He was about to press on the matter when Nasha started tugging on his shirt.

“Daddy! Look!”

Stan turned his head to look up.

And his jaw fell.

He first thought what he was seeing were jellyfish. Then he realized they looked more like eels with long, colorful translucent tentacles. For a brief moment, Stan thought he was under water as the creature swam/flew above him. They gave off an array of lights that shifted for blue, to purple, to green, and soft pink. Their movements were soft and graceful, flying through the sky in a sea of stars high above them.

“Fly eels!” Nasha gasped, her eyes wide and reached up to touch them, even though they were far out from her reach.

“Actually they’re Galaxy Anguilliformes. A rare specimen that only come out once every two years. I’ve tried to study them further, but I’ve never been able to catch one.” Ford said, his eyes locked on the flying eel creatures.

“They’re soft pretty! They’re like the jellies at the zoo daddy!”

Stan nodded his head, still spellbound in memorization by the display above him. He knew Gravity Falls was wired, he still had to watch for any surprises in his meals, but never thought he would see something like this. He broke away from looking at the flying fish to grin at his brother. “I gotta say Sixer. Ya sure know how ta drop a surprise on a guy.”

Ford’s face became flustered, his wings puffing a bit as he cleared his throat. “W-Well, since this is a onetime thing that won’t happen in another two years, I thought that you and Nasha would enjoy seeing a different side of Gravity Falls.”

“I love it Uncle Ford!” Nasha giggled, clapping her hands together. “You’re the best!”

“Hey! The only best monster ‘round here is yer pops!” Stan grinned, poking Nasha in the cheek. She laughed, pushing Stan’s finger away.

Ford went silent, watching the two. His eyes lost their happiness, frowning deeply.

_The more you wait, the more it will hurt._

Ford took a deep breath.

This was it.

“Stan, I—”

Just then, one of the eel creatures came down, stopping in a hover before them. They stared as the creature glanced at them, fixing its galaxy eyes on each of them. A series of chirps and clicks emanated from it, doing a small loop and twist before getting closer.

While Stan’s instinct of having strange things close to his daughter made him flinch and back up a bit, Nasha got a little closer, staring in wonder at the strange being before her. She reached out with one hand running it over its snout. It seemed to like it as it rubbed against her hand, purring like a cat. Nasha giggled, her hand tingling with a sensation as the eel kept rubbing against her palm.

This also attracted the attention of a few others and soon Nasha was surrounded by a small group, petting them and receiving affection back. Both men stared in wonder as the small girl was covered in bathing color light. They shared a glance but couldn’t say anything. All too soon the creatures departed, leaving Nasha covered in scales that glowed with the same hues.

Nasha didn’t seem to mind this and just waved as the space eels flew away. Stan and Ford shared a look, smiling and watched as the eels disappeared from sight.


	29. Nightmares

Stan didn’t know a lot about his brother. Ten years apart with no word and no sign from him was enough to make someone a stranger from the person you once knew. Sure his twin was somewhat still the same but there were things about him that Stan didn’t know about. Things that Ford kept deep secrets from his own twin.

One of them being the second level basement. This was his more privet study. One with working computers and analysts that he worked on for sleepless nights on. The more interesting crypts were kept here to be studied in a controlled environment, one where he had power and plenty of studies to write down. And his biggest reminder to his failure.

Even covered and concealed, he could still feel the mocking eyes glaring at his back, silently laughing at him for his stupidity and misplaced trust. All those shrines and tapestries, how he wasted so much time with them. If he could he would have gone back in time and never done any of these mistakes. Every action that he had done only led up to a different outcome then what he wanted to happen. Both with intentional and unintentional.

And one of his big mistakes happened to lead to the creation of his niece.

Or, more accurately, his daughter.

Blood testing was tricky. DNA was very hard to map and break down to study. Even he struggled to understand it at times. Genes were easier to decipher from different monsters since each monster had a set basic gene type.

Nasha’s gene was a mix. Half and half of a gargoyle and a sphinx. His brother’s genes matching to her gargoyle half…

And his own genes completing the other half.

There was no mistaking it. Nasha really was his daughter. He didn’t want to believe it was true, even with all the evidence in front of him. He didn’t want to believe that he had put his brother and his _daughter_ through all those years out there. All because of his one mistake.

_Ironic wasn’t it?_

His twin ruined his life and he in turn unknowingly ruined his in turn. Or did he ruin his own life? He had done it before the science fair, before the machine was even finished. Had Stan been pregnant that night? The night he ruined Ford’s chance of going to his dream school? Given the time span of the time between then, it was most likely that Stan was pregnant that night.

And pregnancy caused hormones, which effected his mood and his action—

Ford groaned, slamming his head on the desk. All this was giving him a headache. A big one at that. All this thinking was getting him nowhere.

He needed a drink.

A long, heavy, drink.

“This is insane.” He grumbled, getting into the elevator and huffed as it slowly ascended. “All this time, I didn’t even think that…” Ford sighed deeply. Of course he didn’t know. He didn’t care to try and check up on his twin. He didn’t think his actions would do this.

He didn’t know that he became a father.

“Good Goddess’s, this is terrible.” Ford groaned, grabbing his ears as the elevator opened its doors. “I have a daughter. With my own twin.” A twin who didn’t know the truth. “What am I even going to tell him? I can’t just walk up to him and tell him! This is—”

“Uncle Ford?”

Ford jumped. He was only half way out the door that led to the secret lab, so deep in his thoughts that he didn’t notice Nasha till she spoke.

“Nasha!” Ford clutched his chest, feeling his heart racing. “Don’t startle me like that child!”

“Sorry…” Nasha looked down, clutching a familiar DD&D box in her arms.

Ford sighed. “No, no. It’s my fault. I shouldn’t snap at you like that.” He knelled down, looking her in the eyes. “What are doing up again Nasha? Are you having trouble sleeping again?”

Nasha stared at him a moment before adverting her eyes. “A little…”

Alarms instantly went off in his head. “Did you have nightmare?”

Nasha nodded, clutching the box tightly. “Daddy usually comforts me when I have one… but…”

Ford opened his arms, letting the small girl bury herself against his chest and wrapped her in his embrace. “I wouldn’t worry too much about it my dear. Nightmares are just… nightmares. Images in your head that plays tricks on you. None of it was real.”

“You and daddy were fighting.” Nasha mumbled against his chest. Ford blinked, pulling away to look at Nasha.

“You and daddy were fighting about something. I don’t know what it was, but you and daddy were yelling and screaming at each other. Then you started to fight with each other and you were tearing each other apart. I… I just stood there. I couldn’t do anything. I-I… I just—”

“Ssh, ssh. It’s alright.” Ford pulled her close, letting her cry against him. “It was just a bad dream. It wasn’t really. Your daddy and I would never fight like that. We would never try to harm each other. I love your daddy too much to harm him. And he cares about me too.”

“B-but it was so… so real.” Nasha sniffled, rubbing her eyes.

“Dreams often times do feel real, but that doesn’t mean they _are_ real. It’s nothing to worry about.”

“… But. B-but you… and daddy.”

“Nasha.” Ford pulled back, putting a paw under Nasha’s chin and tilted her head up so that she was looking at him. “Do I fight with your daddy?”

“… no.”

“And does he fight with me?”

“No.”

“That’s right.” Ford brushed his forehead against Nasha’s. “We may have a rocky relationship, but we care about each other. There’s no way that either I or your father will fight with each other. We may have disagreements, but we still care for each other deep down.”

Nasha sniffed a bit, looking to the floor. “… if… i-if you still cared about daddy, why didn’t you go looking for him?”

Ford flinched a bit. “Because…” Because, what? He was still angry at his twin? Still thinking he ruined his life and his dreams? Still hung up on what could have been all those years ago? “Because I was an idiot. I… I honestly thought that he… held me back. And that I didn’t need him. And he would be fine on his own… turns out, I was wrong.” He brushed back a lock of her hair from her face.

“Had I known, I would have dropped everything and tried to find him much earlier.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Really.” He picked her up in his arms, hugging her close. “He’s still family. No matter how angry I may have been, I still should have tried to reach out to him. Doesn’t matter who’s fault it was at the end, we’re family.”

“And, family sticks together, right?”

Ford chuckled. “Right. Your daddy taught you that one?”

Nasha nodded.

“Well, he certainly has a good head on his shoulders.”

“His head isn’t on his shoulders. It's on his neck.”

“Well, yes but that was more of a metaphor. It meant that he’s intelligent in his own ways.”

“Oh.” Nasha blinked. “Yeah, daddy is smart sometimes. He’s pretty smart at a game of cards.”

“Really now? He’ll have to show me some time when we have the time.” Ford smiled, carrying Nasha back up to the guest room.

)*(

As Ford disappeared behind the corner, Stan let out a long sigh, sinking to the ground. It felt awkward watching his own family, spying on them through the boarded up window. For crying out loud, they were his family! He could have stepped in and taken over comforting Nasha!

But the way Ford handled it and what he had said…

He just couldn't go in there when they were like that. It would have been awkward and strange. He could handle it when Nasha wanted him. He should spend some time with her after tonight. And what Ford had said…

“Sixer. Yer a strange one alright.” He sighed, running his claws through his mullet. “An’ it’s not jus’ cause of yer hands.” He huffed, gazing up into the night sky as the snow fell lightly to the ground. The night was quiet, unyielding to the events around it as the world kept spinning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FINALLY! Another chapter done!
> 
> Also! I just got a tumblr account! If anyone wants to ask me something, just go to DragonWitch77!


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